To Fly With the Stars
by From Pen to Paper
Summary: The life of an imperial pilot is never easy, especially if one day it is ripped out from you. A look at the life of Juno Eclipse. Chapter 23 is now up!
1. Cold

These are a collection of small events from Juno Eclipse's life, ranging from childhood and beyond. They will not follow any pattern or any real chronological order, maybe one day I'll come back and reorder them but for now this is what how they're staying. I know that a lot of these little scenes may seem really far-fetched but hey! Isn't that why it's called fanfiction? I hope you enjoy and if you have an suggestions or a scene you would really like to see please do not hesitate to ask. I own nothing, reviews are always welcome and please enjoy.

**To Fly With the Stars**

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><p><strong>Cold<strong>

Her rapid breathing began to slow, she turned on her side to see the man lying on the other side of her bed, and he had a satisfied smirk playing on his lips. She bunched the sheets to her chest as she sat up, the man rolled over to straighten himself up collecting his disregarded clothing at the edge of the bed.

"You'd better go," she said to him, her tone was stale and icy. She ran her left hand through her blonde, disheveled hair. He was already one step ahead of her pulling his pants back on, and getting his imperial outfit back together. She swung her legs over her edge of the bed keeping the sheet covering her chest. She stared down at her toes, wiggling them slightly; she could hear his footsteps moving around the bed, making their way to the door before stopping. Juno's azure eyes peered out from the wisps of hair she could never seem to keep out of her face. She watched him straighten his uniform in the mirror by the door, checking for any part of the attire that might be out of place. He tried, unsuccessfully, to flatten his curling black hair, or at least make it acceptable to regulation. Without giving her a second look he slid the door open, but not before he was able to give her some kind of acknowledgment.

"Eclipse"

"Grey"

The door clicked behind him, locking it. Juno's shoulders sagged slightly before her training got the best of her causing her to return to a straight upright, rigid position. Even when she was by herself she could never quite be alone. The traces of her life choices and training were everywhere. She got up on both her feet, wrapping the bed sheet around her slender body as she made her way to the opposite wall where a large window allowed her to just watch the galaxy for a change, instead of flying in it.

Her fingers tapped the glass slightly, it was cold to the touch. Space was always cold. She sometimes felt like space. She thought of her mother. She could never show it to the others but she missed her mother. She tried to shake off her memories. She had to remember that her family no longer existed. Her family had shattered the day her mother's heart stopped beating.

Still, sometimes she felt so alone. Even within the mass multitude of people surrounding her daily, she couldn't help but feel like she was just an unexplored planet within the vastness of the dark space. The glass clouded beneath the warmth of her fingertips, she etched strange shapes and patterns with her fingertips onto the whiteness. She shivered and pulled the sheet closer to her body.

She turned to face the bed, picking up her own clothing that was scattered on the floor that made a trail to the bed. With each piece of her garment she picked up she thought of Grey. She was glad that he didn't pretend that they were more. They simply used each other. With the work both of them did they would be lucky to be alive in a fortnight.

As strange as it sounded, there was comfort in just being with someone even if it meant nothing. Yet Juno always felt slightly empty with each moment she spent living in lies with Grey, or any other person for that matter. She shook her head, it really didn't matter, and after all there was no kind of emotional attachment between them. He knew it meant nothing but more importantly she knew it meant nothing. Even if he died on their next assignments she wouldn't waste one tear on him, it had happened before and it would happen again. It came with the territory.

Her wrinkled clothing made a soft "plop" as she threw them on the bed. She closed her eyes taking a moment to clear her mind and focus on the day ahead.

Juno's body shivered involuntary and her arms wrapped themselves around her chest. She was cold.


	2. Jackets

**Author's Notes: I own nothing, Reviews are always welcome and please enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Jackets<strong>

The blonde pilot stormed into the cockpit, temper flaring, her boots were loud and punctuated every step as she stomped around. She paced briefly between the seats, before removing her jacket.

Juno threw her imperial jacket harshly onto the co-pilot's seat and her cap followed suit. She stood in her grey issued tank top, hands on her hips, just fuming. The nerve of that…boy! She had never met anyone more reclusive and rude as him. Juno had only wanted to talk. After all, there were just the two of them on this ship, what else was she supposed to do?

She laughed inwardly to herself. She knew exactly what she was supposed to do. Keep his ship running and fly him wherever his missions required. Her job was summed up in one sentence. She missed her tie-fighter, she hated being chained up waiting for Starkiller to return from his missions, and she just wanted freedom.

She massaged the back of the pilot's seat just thinking, her hair falling out from behind her ear into her line of sight. There was no real reason to be upset with him, but he had no reason to dismiss her so easily. The way he was able to bluntly ignore her was both insulting and somewhat intriguing. She was just trying to be friendly with him, she figured that like her he could do with a little social interaction and she certainly wasn't going to the droid for some. Her mind wandered. She thought that they had made some kind of progress, it hurt her just a little, apparently this was a one-sided friendship. For once in her life she found someone she actually _wanted_ to talk to. Then again if he wanted solitude so badly she might as well give him that as she knew the feeling all too well.

_Distance,_ Juno had to remind herself. Never get too close. People, in her experience, always ending up disappointing her.

People may disappoint but ships rarely do. Juno fiddled with the controls on the dash, setting the ship on autopilot. As much as he missed her former ship she enjoyed the challenge of discovering the secrets of a new one. Juno listened carefully for possible approaching footsteps but heard nothing so she leaned back into the confines of pilot's chair propping her boots up. She took this moment to unwind and relax. Juno pushed her hair back then crossed her arms and stared out to the twinkling stars.

The galaxy really was beautiful and she was never really able to verbally express the charm the stars held for her. Either from being lost in thought or the comfort of her chair her eyes started to droop, she tried to fight the drowsiness that crept upon her. Juno ended up losing the battle. Closing them she told herself she was only going to rest for a moment.

Her head fell forward, jolting her from her sleep. She was panicked for a minute. It was unlike her to fall asleep at the helm, she was afraid that she would be seen as unprofessional. That was something she did not wanted associated with her. She also did not need a reminder of how many pilots had come before her.

It was during the brief moment of panic she noticed something strange. Her chest was unusually warm for having fallen asleep without her jacket on, as the ship was always set at a low, uncomfortable temperature. The source of the warmth was easy to find. Her jacket had been draped over her upper-half. Juno's eyebrows knitted together, she could distinctly remember throwing her jacket and cap on the co-pilot's chair, she looked to her right to find her cap resting on the seat, slightly moved from it's previous position. Her stomach gave a small jolt when she realized just how the jacket had made itself onto her while she slept. Juno could feel heat rising up to her cheeks; her earlier feelings of annoyance seemed so silly now.

She closed her eyes, snuggling deeper into the warmth, smiling to herself.


	3. Eyes

**Thanks for reading so far! Reviews are always welcome and please enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Eyes<strong>

"Father, Stop!" Juno yelled as her father violently shook her by her shoulders. He wouldn't let up. She tried again,

"Please!" When he didn't release her she struggled, his fingers dug into her skin, he finally shoved her down onto the floor. As she fell, she awkwardly reached her hand out to break her fall. She heard a sickening snap, her wrist had absorbed most of the fall. Juno's small frame shook slightly as she cradled her wrist with her other hand.

Hot tears built up behind her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall. She would not cry in front of her father, there had been too much weeping between the two of them already. Holding her wrist gingerly she looked up at her father, his expression was unreadable. He met her graze and his face was suddenly masked in fury, every word he spoke was laced in contempt,

"Don't. Look. At. Me. With. Those. Eyes." Juno immediately cast her eyes downward to the floor. Her long sunlit hair created a curtain between the two of them. He simply walked past her careful to tread on the small toys that lay beside her. With each step he broke another childhood treasure. Juno did not look up until she heard the door slam forcefully behind her.

Juno found herself looking at the remnants of a smashed mirror. With her uninjured arm she saw herself reach up to graze the bottom of her eyes. They were the same eyes that she had inherited from her mother.

Her mother…

The hot tears were back. She shut her eyes tightly. Juno was not a child who cried easily. But here she was an eight-year-old girl, who's own father had become a stranger to her, the family she had so often drew on for strength was gone. Things were different.

She rocked back and forth cradling her wrist, wishing. Wishing, like she had done for the past two weeks, that she would wake up tomorrow morning and find her mother at the breakfast table, humming a familiar tune, smilingly thoughtfully and giving Juno and her husband a gentle kiss on the cheek . Not dead in the ground.

Juno looked back up at her reflection, she could see that the skin on her wrist was changing into a deep purple, there was a small trickle of blood seeping from a cut and it had swollen to twice its normal size. Juno, careful not to upset her wrist made her way back onto her feet, surveying the room. The damage was extensive. The toy ships she played with were beyond repair, books were ripped, the mirror was smashed in, petals, dirt and broken pottery covered the floor by the door and her mother's favorite necklace was scattered in bits and pieces around the room.

Juno knew that she could easily have one of the family droids come clean up the mess for her much faster and more proficiently than she could but Juno did not care. The broken items on the ground stood for more than shattered toys but it was a symbol of a new chapter in her life. It was one she would face alone. Her father apparently would no longer be the same man Juno had always believed him to be.

Nothing was able to be salvaged. With a heavy heart Juno threw out her childhood.

If this was the price for looking at her father with her inherited sapphire eyes, Juno vowed she would never look at his face again.


	4. Birthdays

Thanks for reading and thank you for all the favs, it means so much to me! Reviews are always welcome and please enjoy!

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><p><strong>Birthdays<strong>

"My what?" his tone was very direct and somewhat confused. Juno looked at him; a playful smirk played her lips. She couldn't tell if he was trying to cute or just being guarded. Since it was him she choose the latter. Still she couldn't help but let a small laugh escape her lips.

"I said, your birthday". Half of her closed lipped smile faltered for a moment, she watched him from across the table. He became extremely interested in his fingers drumming themselves inches away from his plate.

Juno allowed the silence between them to grow. She wanted to give him time. She had begun to pick up bits and pieces of Starkiller's actions. She had learned that it was best to wait, and she had learned the expression that came across his face when he was about to say something more. She picked up her cup to take a small sip when he spoke,

"I'm sorry Juno, but I don't know". Juno started to choke on her drink, spluttering everywhere, Starkiller looked startled for a moment. His fingers had stopped drumming and he raised his hand, slightly, unsure of what to do. Finally able to gasp some air Juno, asked him still coughing,

"What did you say?" Her blue eyes were open wide, there was something precious in the way he stared at her. Starkiller's eyebrows rose to a quizzical look, he proceeded slowly. It was as if he was afraid of causing her to choke again, or any harm for that matter,

"I said, I don't know".

"Oh," was her response, she sounded a little disappointed.

Maybe she had only imagined it earlier, but she could have sworn that he had said he was sorry. That would have been beyond out of character for him. Brushing that aside she returned to her earlier question, she leaned forward towards him, her one arm gripped the outside rim of table with the other hand in the air, waving her question at him.

"How do you not know when your birthday is?" her tone was incredulous, "You're just messing with me aren't you?" Her voice started to change; there was a hint of anger,

"Look. If you don't want to tell me that's fine. I just fig-"

"No, Juno, it's not that. Starkiller had cut her off sharply, his eyes were cast down ward, "I don't know…" Juno allowed him silence again. When he met her eyes, they were sincere; the walls between them cracked a little. Juno's insides hurt a little seeing his brief moment of vulnerability.

Juno removed her gloves, massaging her hands. Starkiller had begun drumming his fingers again, she took that as a cue to leave, Juno started to scoot out of the bench to let him be alone but he stopped her.

His hand had grabbed her arm, not hard but firm enough to keep her seated. Her eyes moved between her arm and his face. It occurred to her that this was the first time he had ever touched her. It was a small brief touch and he let her go just as quickly.

"What do you do on your birthday?" The question was innocent enough. She scooted back to her original position straightening her uniform. Her curiosity was over whelming, she had to ask,

"Didn't you ever-"

"No". He had cut her off again. Juno took a mental note. Never ask him questions that where obviously off limits. Juno licked her lips. Starkiller was trying, unsuccessfully, to retie the torn pieces of cloth off of his well-worn garment of clothing.

"Here. Let me do that," Juno had reached for his arm, he flinched away before letting her tie the scraps together. Her light fingers twisted the clothing in between her fingers. Her voice was nostalgic,

"It depends I guess. Everyone is different". She sighed, "When I was very young my parents used to give me a plant every year."

"A plant?" His disbelief was soaking in sarcasm. Juno had finished tying the cloth together and absent-mindedly traced a scar on her left wrist. She laughed at him,

"Yes, a plant" His face seemed to doubt her story, "They weren't just any plants. They were beautiful, exotic, each one more interesting than the last. I loved them, what can I say I like plants". She shrugged her shoulders; it was a weak defense for her secret love of plants.

"You're a strange one Captain Eclipse," he said leaning back against the booth, his hands resting behind his head. Juno opened her mouth for a retort but a beeping indicated that she was needed back at the helm. Starkiller watched her get up, stretch, and walk towards the cockpit. Before completely losing him from her line of vision, she turned her head over her shoulder to give Starkiller one final thought.

"Well, because I'm sure you've never heard it before, happy birthday." She turned the corner, and a rare smile flashed on his face before returning to its stony features.


	5. Praise Worthy

**Thanks for reading so far and reviews are always welcome and I hope you enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Praise Worthy<strong>

Juno slumped over the edge of her seat, elbows on her knees, hands holding her head. Her breathing was deep and methodical. It was all her fault.

Her eyes were fixated on her controls, but she wasn't really looking at the flashing lights and whizzing instruments she often took solace in. She could hear the shouts of congratulations and unmistakable sounds of celebrations from the others in her squad. No doubt they were all waiting around in the hanger to give Juno a slap on the back and praise her for a mission well done.

Juno shut her eyes, everyone, they were all idiots. She wasn't a hero of any sort, she was a monster. There was nothing praise-worthy about what she had done. She had killed an entire planet. It had been no one else, just her.

_You followed orders_, she told herself. Orders were meant to be followed there was no way around it. Orders were given to ensure peace and prosperity. Juno felt neither of these things.

Knowing she would have to deal with the unwelcome praise sooner or later, she exited her ship but not before putting her helmet back over her head to mask the horror of her actions on her face.

She was right. Everyone in her squad surrounded her immediately. They wanted all the details; they wanted to hear all about her glorious bombing run. Some shouted with envy telling Juno they would have done anything to trade places with her. Juno shared their desire.

Juno was grateful she had her helmet on. While her voice was strong her face was not. Her squad's faces on the other hand were ecstatic. In between questions she bit her lip, to the point were they had started to crack and bleed, as to stop her lips from quivering. With every pat on the back, and shout of congratulations her breaking point cracked little by little, until she could not stand it any longer. She excused herself from the others. They groaned a little when she started to walk away, but returned to their own celebrations blissfully unaware that one of their own did not feel the same.

Juno found a small corridor, it looked seemingly empty. With angry fingers she removed her helmet. She threw it forcefully against the wall, she screamed in her head until her head could not contain it, then it exploded from her mouth. She kicked her helmet again and again then proceeded to throwing it against the wall until she found she no longer had the will. Juno was suddenly aware that a few young officers had been standing at the end of the long hallway; apparently they had witnessed her entire meltdown. She was embarrassed.

Juno Eclipse was not known for having wild emotions.

Juno calmly she bent down to picked up her helmet, hopefully trying to mask her unprecedented feelings. Hemet still in her hands, she inspected it closely and found that in some places it had cracked and there along the mouth line there were several chips. Her stomach dropped, she could hear the officer's whispering, and clearly her outburst would not go unnoticed.

She felt very alone.

Juno wasn't consciously guiding herself, as her mind was preoccupied, but she found herself outside her own room. She entered, the door clicked behind her. Everything was as she had left it, untouched. Her fingers lightly swept across her bed covers; only a few days ago she had woken up a different person. Juno's heart plummeted. People could change so suddenly it hurt. Cradling her helmet in her arms, she laid it on her pillow.

The door made a sudden noise, to indicate that she had a visitor. She turned, wiping the blonde strands from her eyes. Grey stood leaning in her doorway, his face held a smirk. Juno could see that his flight uniform was prematurely undone in a few places. He scanned her body with his silver eyes, she felt disgusting.

"Need help celebrating?" He took a few steps to her.

"No." Her voice was flat. She turned to face him; there was fire in her eyes. His eyebrow raised, apparently this was no the response he had expected. She turned her back to him.

"We're done." Her voice was unforgiving, distant. He gave a small sarcastic laugh.

"Yea. Whatever Eclipse." He walked out of her room, zipping up his uniform as he went.

Juno massaged her temples. She was disappointed with herself. This was no way for someone of her status to act; her emotional outburst had even surprised herself. She had only done what she did best, follow orders. While everyone else in the empire would have found the actions to be praise-worthy, Juno did not. There were some days like today where she wished that she had not returned from the mission so she wouldn't have to look at herself anymore.

She sternly reminded herself that she needed to forgo her emotions. She had learned long ago they were a prison.

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><p>Thanks for reading so far and thanks for all the favs! I'm still in the need for more scenes for Miss Juno, if you have any ideas please do not hesitate to tell me! Thanks so much!<p> 


	6. No Longer Coming

**I don't own anything, reviews are always welcome and please enjoy! From my mind to you.**

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><p><strong>No Longer Coming<strong>

Juno knew something was wrong. As young as she was she could sense the disturbance in her home, their had been nothing but growing joy then it was snuffed out. At first she had only been slightly apprehensive of the new attitude in her family but with the arrival of her failing grandmother at her home after a few days her apprehension grew into alarm.

Being four she could only pick up a few words of the hushed conversations of the adults. They used long words that sounded foreign, covered in muck, and to her she only had to assume were dreadful as not one person had sought to tell her anything. Others were beginning avoid her family now, it was as if her entire family had contracted something repulsive and they dared not go near them. The children who Juno sometimes played with were stopped by their parents, they looked at Juno, bleakness bleeding from their eyes. Juno did not understand.

The disturbance had come swiftly in the night a few days ago. Juno had awoken to a vase crashing and heard her parents rushing from their house, her mother's voice was in hysterics, and they left her behind. She had raced, barefoot towards that door but Juno had missed their departure. Juno sat, head resting on the window seat and she watched them disappear into the sunrise. She waited for them to come back.

It wasn't until late the next afternoon her parents reappeared. Juno had scrambled from the window seat, moving to a pillow on the floor as to be closer to the floor, expecting to be embraced by both of her parents but as they entered the threshold her mouth fell open slightly.

Juno watched her father support her mother who was holding her head in her hands weeping uncontrollably. Her mother's head tilted towards her daughter and her blue eyes met Juno's through her fingers, she cried harder. Juno shot up from her soft pillow on the floor to comfort her mother but her father intervened shooing Juno away from them as he helped her mother proceed into their room.

She could hear her mother crying. It echoed around their house, Juno was never able to escape it. Even when she was playing with her toys in the yard she could hear her mother's soft tears. Juno hated the sound of people crying and hearing her mother's cried broke her heart. When Juno attempted to knock on her parent's door her father appeared before her, shaking his head, patting Juno's head softly.

Her grandmother arrived not shortly after, to tend Juno while her mother could not. Her father left for work early in the morning light so that he could be home before the evening darkness arrived. The presence of her grandmother did little as Juno still fell asleep to the crying and it was the first sound she heard in the morning.

Juno did not like her grandmother. She coughed all over everything and smelled like a dirty Bulfusi. Juno would never admit to anyone but her grandmother scared her, her thin bony frame sometimes gave Juno night terrors, she was nothing short of a walking skeleton. What annoyed Juno most of all was her grandmother's inability to give Juno a moments peace, as Juno was a strange child who was as content to be alone as she was to be in the company of others.

It was her grandmother that had spilled her parents' secret to her.

Juno had been fussy with her grandmother, she didn't want to get ready for bed, and refused to get into her nightgown.

"Child, be still," Juno did not obey to her wishes but raced around her room, long hair flying behind her, squealing in delight as with every lap around the room the skeleton fingers failed to catch her. Her grandmother threw her hands up into the hair, shaking her fists to the ceiling, sneering at Juno "You are naughty child. You don't need to give your parents any more grief right now". Juno's laps around her room came to an abrupt halt and her large innocent eyes grew wide,

"What?" That's when she found out the unspeakable news.

The baby brother she had been jubilantly waiting for was no longer coming.


	7. At The Edge Of The World

Please enjoy and reviews are always welcome and as usual I don't own anything.

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><p><strong>At the Edge of the World<strong>

The wind whipped her back urging her to cling tighter to the large fighter jacket she had found aboard the ship. Roaring louder the wind came in one sweeping movement from the left causing Juno to skew from her nice neat desired straight line. Juno tried to duck her head inside the jacket. She was hopeful to find some shelter from the wind, but was unsuccessful. Her hair was playing in the wind, coming out of her standard bun. The wind seemed to catch her hair, pulling out every strain and tossing it as high as it could go into the sky.

With her obvious difficulties Juno stared ahead at the silhouette of the other passenger who lived aboard the ship with her. She was envious. He sat his arms behind him, supporting his weight, sitting precariously at the edge of the cliff apparently unfazed by the wind.

Juno stopped fighting the wind to just watch him. She couldn't put her finger on it but there was something between them, something different.

Was it trust? Juno's mind flashed with dozens of faces, there was no one she knew that she could trust, but with him… She felt like she could trust in him even as foolish as that sounded to her.

When she had seen him running towards her upon Vader's ship she had been downright startled. Not only was he supposed to be dead but he had come back for her. There was not one single person, that came to mind, that would have risked so much just to come back for her and no one had ever come back for her before.

It was also apparent that he wasn't supposed to have come for her, PROXY reminded her of that daily.

Juno was a body length from him, his hands digging into the soft earth beneath his fingers. She could tell he was frustrated. Their efforts to locate a blind man were counterproductive with every planet, space station, city they were seemingly taking steps further into the dark. Who in the galaxy would have thought that a blind man would be so hard to find. Since so much time had passed from his initial search she guessed that he started to doubt his own venture.

"Are you going to sit down?" Juno's lip formed into a half smile. She was amazed that he had even noticed her presence. The wind picked up and carried most sound away in its fluid dance, so the idea of him hearing her shuffling footsteps was ludicrous. Then again, she had to remind herself that he did have powers she could never hope to obtain.

Juno leaned forward, putting pressure on the tips of her feet, to see that Starkiller had picked the one part of the ledge to sit on that with one wrong move would result in a gut wrenching fall into absolute destruction.

"No thank you. I'd prefer to stand." The wind begged to differ urging her towards him. He didn't even look at her, he sounded a little exacerbated,

"Don't worry. I'm not going to let you fall anytime soon." Juno believed him, but she didn't have that much faith in herself so she slowly sat down on the earth scooting little by little, pushing small pebbles over the edge. Finally, her feet felt nothingness and she let her legs swing over the edge of the cliff. The upper half of her body was not as brave. Her right hand gripped to a root that sat between them believing it to be her anchor to safety while her left hand remained dedicated to holding the jacket to her.

Starkiller's movement was so quick Juno barely had time to register what was happening.

"What are you doing?" She half screeched, her voice two pitches higher than normal, at Starkiller. He had removed her fingers easily despite her viselike grip from the root. He preceded to rip it out of the ground throwing it into the ditch below.

Juno's heart was beating fast, that root had been her one safety net to not falling below. Starkiller rolled his eyes at her he could sense both her uneasiness and tenseness of her body.

"I told you, I'm not going to let you fall." She trusted him and nodded nervously in agreement. Juno tried to look at him face to face but his eyes were distracted watching her hair fly into the wind. He turned his face to overlook the canyons before them.

"You look terrible."

Juno's face turned into a scowl. She usually did not get comments like that from most men; then again he wasn't like most men.

Juno thought about just how differently he truly was. Experience had shown her that men were unreliable; dim witted and only watched Juno's chest when she talked completely ignoring what she had to say.

Her soft sky eyes sought the horizon taking in the beautiful curvatures of the mountains, winding trees, gentle valleys and the unique coloration on the stones of the landscape below them. Memories were haunting and because of that she let her free hand slide itself onto her stomach and pressed tightly against it. She thought that if she could suppress the pain she could erase her mistakes.

"Are you hurt?" Starkiller had pushed himself forward his arms now resting across his lap, his tone held a tint of concern.

"It's nothing," Juno said, trying to wave away her problems into the air trying to have faith in her own words.

"It's always nothing, huh?" She could hear in his voice that he wasn't buying her excuse either. She tried to smile at him but it faltered.

"It seems that way doesn't it?"

Starkiller's eyes went blank, unfocused, he was lost in his own mind.

The wind had died down; the suns began to set, casting long shadows behind the two.

Juno broke Starkiller from his reverie,

"Thank you." Juno was surprised she hadn't said it earlier. Starkiller shifted his head away from hers merely grunting in response. She supposed he didn't hear too many thank yous, or give any for that matter.

Juno looked at the space between the two of them; their hands were so close separated by only a few pebbles. His hand dragged back to his leg leaving finger trails in the dirt. Juno bit her lip, she should have…

She forced her head up only to find him staring intently at her, his eyes were hard, Juno opened her mouth to speak but his tongue was quicker than hers.

"Juno, you don't have to thank me. It wasn't personal," He sounded conflicted, but then again sometimes Juno only heard what she wanted to.

"Oh," Juno broke his gaze, staring straightforward intent to not let him see the hurt and confusion in her eyes. She thought that maybe just maybe there had been _something _personal about his rescue. She was hesitant to even admit to to herself but it had a felt personal to her. Once again here was another example that Juno wasn't sure she knew Starkiller as well as she thought she knew him.

"Well," she added before he could say anything more to deter her, "Even if it wasn't personal, thank you". There was a secret hiding behind Starkiller's eyes.

With quickness that Juno could not measure he was already on his feet, he kicked one particularly large rock over the side. It bounced and chipped away while it fell below, plunging deeper until it was lost.

"Here, "Starkiller said, extending one hand out to her. Juno extended her own to his. He closed his fingers around hers and pulled her up to him.

Hands were connected between the two of them; their bodies were so close, the force of his pull had done this. Juno could feel Starkiller's warm breath on her head even with the chilled wind whirling around them. She looked up, his eyes were playing back and forth with hers; there was something in them Juno had not seen before and could not identify.

As if he could sense her feelings his movements were quick. Starkiller pushed Juno back, careful not to push her over the edge, letting her hand fall from his. Turning his back on her he let out an angry shout, hands clenched, punching the air in front of him, walking back to his ship.

Juno was left twisting in the wind.


	8. Simple Truths

Here it is chapter 8, reviews are also welcome and please enjoy! As usual I own nothing

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><p><strong>Simple Truths<strong>

The shadow of her illusion broke. He could never be with her as long as he was a slave to his master. The simple truth-if any truth was ever simple- was that she had opened her self up little by little to man who could never possibly accept her back. Juno's head inclined backwards to feel the cold steel behind her. Her closed eyes kept playing the scene again.

"_You're still his…his…"Juno swallowed, she could not bring herself to say the truth she had known for so long but turned a blind eye to. Hiding the inner turmoil swirling within her she squinted her eyes slightly watching for his reaction, it was if she was seeing him for the first time._

_The rich brown avoided her blues, staring blankly at everything in the room until they had no choice but to come into contact with hers. The instant this connection was made his eyes were lowered, dark lashes creating shadows, he looked so alone. Through a whisper he found the words she could not._

"_His slave…" Juno was absurdly proud of him for just this brief moment. So he knew. He hadn't been as blind as she thought. Still…_

_Juno should have turned, walked away with the natural rhythm of a pilot, pushing aside her feelings. The next step would be to plotting a course that would take here somewhere distant where she could disappear. There she would begin yet another life._

_Juno's lips instead released their question. It was the question that often bubbled up to her lips prompting her to release it the day she had seen him running towards her._

"_Then why did you defy Vader to rescue me?" Beneath her strong question there was genuine fear for what the answer might be. Juno wasn't sure what she had been excepting to hear._

_Starkiller was defensive at best; his hand was as rude as his tone, pointed firmly to reaffirm his retort._

"_I needed someone to fly the ship!" Juno was angry, pushing the offending arm away from her, she hadn't even thought of an answer it came naturally as if it had always meant to be said._

"_We both know that's not true." Was that true? Did they both know? This was the closest confession she could offer._

Juno opened her eyes. They were fixated on the dark cold steel insides of the ship she was so lost. Her father had been right, she couldn't read people at all, she was useless and an inconvenience to every person she met. Her chest clenched like a fist holding her heart.

It wasn't just that he had deceived her for months, pretending to be fighting for something that she had started to believe in. What hurt the most was that for the first time in her life Juno had actually started to give a damn about the future. She was becoming her own person not just another drone within the empire and Starkiller had ignited something deep within her she had previously thought dead. Hope and perhaps something more. With his dark secret spilt she wondered if her hope was merely an aftershock to his well constructed facade.

Juno looked at the door on her right, he still hadn't emerged yet, _why was she waiting, what did she expect?_ Juno pushed herself from the wall she could not wait for him any longer.

The ship was perfect. Everything was working in pristine condition. Juno shook her head what she wouldn't give for a distraction. Any distraction would suffice, Juno twiddled with the buttons, levers even though they didn't need fiddling with, and she gave up sitting down in her chair. She shuddered inwardly the ship had never felt colder and unwanted. She folded herself over, head in her hands.

Her mind had already been made up, for how long she didn't know, she would stay even if it went against her better judgment. Her head told her to leave, start fresh but there was a pulling sensation from her gut that told her otherwise.

_Juno!_ She screamed at herself, _What's wrong with you? This isn't you. What good will it do to stay? About Starkiller, do you really think he'd stay if the positions were reversed? How many new lives do you need to start before you're happy? Wake up Juno, wake up…_

"Wake up Juno."

"What?" Juno's hands flew out in front of her reaching for something but grasping at the nothingness the lay out before her. Starkiller's warm hand was resting carefully on her back. She jumped up from her chair as if he's pricked her with a needle. She had spun quickly, her back hitting the console causing slight discomfort to her lower back. She was backed into a corner. Juno had not expected to see him so soon she wasn't sure what more she had to tell him.

The silence between them was palpable, they were only feet apart, and Starkiller's eyes were raw and exposed. He took a step towards her. When he spoke it was softly. Gently. Almost regretfully,

"Juno…I…" Juno put a hand onto his chest in order to keep the distance between; she could almost feel his individual heartbeats.

"It doesn't matter," she said feelingly, "I'll stay." Her hand had slid from his chest and she bit her bottom lip, she still wasn't sure. He didn't even blink.

"Juno, there's so-" his hand had reached for her arm but she brushed it aside.

"I said. It doesn't matter, I'll stay." Her lips formed into a frown. Juno knew she couldn't stay this close to him much longer without fueling her delusions of the connection that did not exist. Giving him her best attempt at a warm smile that fell flat, she slid past his strong form in the small space between him and the console.

The door slid closed behind, the sound allowed her to shed her emotional wall that she would not share with the world. Her eyes were hot and she ran her fingers through her hair, she was still so unsure.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Thanks for all the favs, support and welcome to new readers! Also thanks to Florence and the Machine's and their amazing song "Cosmic Love", it is my new favorite song and was my companion while I wrote this.


	9. Crossfire

**Crossfire**

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><p>Something had been said about crossfire. The words themselves had become blurred lines of nightmares and realities. Juno could not remember anything about the details of her mother's death. When they spoke to her all she ever heard was, "Your mother…crossfire". Nothing more nothing less.<p>

Those who knew her mother invaded their home draped in black, cold blues, burnt red, those colors too created a swarm that soon spun together and became one. Even with so many bodies in the Eclipse home Juno still heard the stark silence.

She stood perfectly still by the window watching the other children playing, their lives undisturbed by the greedy hand of death, her bottom lip trembled. With her long blonde tresses weaved in an tight braid cascading down her back, neat flat black dress and highly polished shoes Juno looked as if she was years beyond her own age. Her insides were ancient.

She blinked fighting by the red hot that stung her eyes, turning to face the masses she searched for her father but could not find him in the sea of bodies. She knotted her hands together in prayer up to her chest, her fingers were cold and in wanting of warmth.

During the services she had stood in perfect alignment with her father, his hand was a light touch on her back as he ushered her towards her mother's body. She could have been sleeping. Juno expected her mother to wake up, smile and laugh at the tenseness of the room, grabbing both Juno and her father's hand then they would go on a walk like they so often did. But her mother did not move and Juno reminded herself that she was dead. Juno's eyes forced themselves shut as two small tears slid down her cheeks needing to feel comfort Juno's hand reached for her father's. She squeezed his hand tightly, he did not return the gesture but Juno did not care and held tight to the rough large hand.

Juno watched the masses; they were so content in murmuring to themselves no doubt wondering about the future of the Eclipse family. Once in a while a stranger or two would approach Juno and offer their empty condolences. A whispered "thank you" is all Juno was every able to make out. Her throat felt swollen and her voice was weak.

Then as if the time around her quickened everyone was gone. Her father emerged from his bedroom his hands held her mother's favorite silken blue scarf, his hands thumbing it. Whatever the reason, Juno burst into tears at the sight and ran at her father, angry at first she began to beat his chest with her small fists, he did nothing, then giving up she wrapped her arms around him as tight as she could. She believed that if she held him tight he would never leave her. He looked down towards her braided head and placed one of his hands on her head patting her gently.

He proceeded to peel Juno off him, Juno wiping nose and eyes with her sleeve. The large hazel eyes of her father met her inherited blue ones; his mouth opened as if he wanted to tell her something of comfort but changed his mind.

Juno slept as she had the past few days plagued by nightmares. She was running as fast as she could but she was never fast enough, her mother was in the distance, arms open wide awaiting Juno, but Juno could never reach her. Even in her dreams Juno cried. Her tears unaffected by gravity pooled from her eyes as floating around her like precious gemstones. Juno's tears became too many obscuring her mother from her, then she was drowning in her own tears calling out for anyone but the waves thrashed around her in a haunting silence. Juno would awake shortly after face wet with seat, eyes puffy.

Juno slid from her bed her toes felt the cold floor, her collection of small plants still flourished. Juno knelt beside them picking the largest flowering buds tying them together with a ribbon that usually kept her long hair in place.

The suns were rising creating a soft glow on the land, hills, and early walkers. Juno's hair was concealed by her mother's scarf, but that did not stop the light wind from extracting a few of her hairs, shining in the sun. Juno knew her father would not miss her presence he had remained locked in his room, encased in the memories of his loving wife, he had become numb and was slowly becoming dead too. Juno half wondered if her father was even concerned with herself anymore but shook her head, she could not allow herself to think like that. Her father was her father and would always remain so.

The grave was fresh. Juno collapsed in front of it. Her body, mind, and emotions they were all weary. Unable to control her self Juno choked out her remaining grief. Gently, Juno placed her small offering of flowers on her mother's resting place. The bundle was small and insignificant compared to the others that surrounded. Juno's lip trembled as she spoke to her mother for the final time in her life,

"Mommy…I miss you" there was no response.

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><p>Author's Notes: Sorry for the late update I just found myself very busy. I hope you enjoyed, reviews are always welcome and no, I don't own anything.<p> 


	10. Plants

I don't own anything, reviews are always welcome and please enjoy.

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><p><strong>Plants<strong>

Juno landed the ship with perfect grace, that could only be achieved through years of intense training, on the wildly weeded strange planet. The ship was only a short distance away from the signaled pick up spot. Juno stood from her seat to gain a better view, leaning her arms against the controls. Felucia was one of the most beautiful planets Juno had ever seen. Being such a skilled pilot Juno had read the reports several times on this world but there had been no detail of the exquisiteness the planet held.

Reports so often missed those type of details. Juno wondered what her own report might be missing.

The brightness of the foliage was candy to the eyes, each a decedent delight of color. Juno scratched her nose. She couldn't see Starkiller approaching the ship anytime soon, he so often tended to dally on his returns. She took his stalling as her advantage leaving PROXY behind to monitor the ship so she could stretch her legs and do some exploring of her own.

Once outside the grey interior of the ship Juno clasped her hands behind her back stretching them as far as they could go feeling the tension in her shoulders ease slightly. The air was humid and sticky persuading Juno to take off her Imperial cap and toss it behind her onto the landing ramp. She wiped the small beads of sweat from her forehead, the planet was much hotter than she had expected. Her footsteps were quiet masked by the moist ground.

The ship was not too far behind her but had reduced to the size of her hand. There were fresh dew drops on some of the nearer blossoming turquoise buds; Juno lightly brushed her finger tips against it, she raised her gloved hand to her face to see the wetness glistening on the black leather.

Juno removed her gloves tucking them into her waist, her belt held them firmly in place, as she knelt down to inspect a bright yellowing vine that twisted itself around a large fallen tree. Juno hoped that Starkiller would not be back from his mission soon as she needed this small moment just to herself, to connect to an old love and de-clutter her head filled to capacity with mixed messages.

Now that he had come into her thoughts Juno couldn't help but think about his behavior of late. When he had told her of the destination Juno couldn't help but pick up a trace of giddiness underneath his hard demeanor. She shook her head; long side swept gold fell across her cheeks, as she almost laughed to herself. Giddiness. From him. Still she couldn't help but be grateful for Felucia as it had not only provided her with enjoyment but it seemed to have given Starkiller his own little joy.

Even traveling together these past few months Juno still barely knew him. He was so reclusive and distant. Yet there were some brief clandestine moments they shared that had propelled their connection by leaps and bounds but they were short lived as he always cut these bonds shortly after they were spun.

The leaves were waxy to the touch as she rubbed it between from thumb and forefinger; her stomach gave an instinctive squeeze. Juno blinked back the discomfort. It was something that had become something of a routine. She thought back to her training, they were right, over thinking came with regret, something that was chided in the academy. She could still hear the instructor's intrusive grainy voice in her head,

"Serve our grand Empire. Follow Orders. With this you join our Galactic Family."

Family. Yes, the empire _was_ her family. With each order she followed and executed well she received praises and acknowledgement for her good work something that Juno had never known in her _real _family. She wondered if her father ever thought of her. Probably not.

Even though Juno sulked inwardly about escorting Vader's assassin around the cold dark reaches of space she could not help but feel pride. She could see up close the results that came with helping her _family_ and she was glad to do it. Even though Starkiller did most, if not all, of the dirty work Juno could not help but feel a sense of belonging.

This was her life. And if it came with the occasional twinge of regret so be it.

Juno ears pricked up with the sound of something rustling in the distance heading towards her direction. She shot upward and her fingers wrapped around the pistol she sometimes carried with her. Through the humid fog that veiled the air Juno could see a figure approaching the outline growing clearer with each step.

Her fingers relaxed around the trigger as Juno recognized the unmistakable swagger of Starkiller. As the space between them diminished Juno could not help but notice one side of his lips were held up in a smug smile. Apparently he had done well.

There was something new about him too. One of his hands held his light saber while the other clenched what appeared to be a large stem which led to the head of flower whose petals were larger than Juno's hands put together.

Starkiller had been intently watching his footing, his rare smile of accomplishment still there, he looked up and locked eyes with Juno who had her arms crossed peering at him with brimming curiosity. His smiled vanished immediately, it was as if he could sense her innermost thoughts, Juno's cheeks felt a little warm. He paused and continued in her direction closing the space until they were an arm's lengths away.

"Here," he stated brandishing the flower in her direction.

"Wha...What is this?" Juno wasn't sure how to respond; one perfectly tweezed eyebrow was raised.

"Here," he said again his voice a little rougher than it needed to be as he shook the flower again and one of it's large violet petals fell to the ground. Juno took it carefully. She was afraid that if once touched the flower might emit sparks or explode. It did no such thing. Juno used her other hand to hold it, the flower was heavier than she had expected. Her mouth just hung open.

"…"

Juno still wasn't sure what the appropriate response was in this situation. Starkiller's shrugged his shoulders his hand waving to both Juno and the enormous flower, there was embarrassment behind his words.

"I thought you said you liked plants."

Before Juno could even thank him he began walking towards to ship his back to her. Juno held the head of the flower to her face. It was amazing, Juno could see every individual lightening yellow spore, and vein upon the petals. Juno opened her mouth, her response was finally ready but closed it instantly.

She hadn't really noticed his back before. Juno took inventory of the many scars etched there. It was a reminder to the cruelties he endured. It was one thing they undeniably had in common, they both carried their own form of scars. Her stomach gave another twitch but it felt different from the regret she often had to bare.

Following closing behind him Juno escorted Starkiller to the ship neither of them speaking to each other. Juno held the stem tightly with her hands.

He was right. She did like plants.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>So sorry for all the little mistakes. I recently injured my hand in a super freak accident and it's hard to type with a giant bandage covering your hand. When it heals I'm coming back to fix up a few things for for the moment please accept my apology for my bad editing job. I hope you enjoyed this chapter regardless!


	11. School Days

**Yay! New chapter! Sorry this one took a while I've been very busy. I own nothing, reviews and suggestions are always welcome and please enjoy!**

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><p><strong>School Days<strong>

Juno used the back of her hand to wipe the small line of blood from the corner of her lips, her other fist was raised defensively in front of her. Juno looked at her hand and despite the taste of blood in her mouth she could tell her injury wasn't as bad as the one she delivered on her opponent. Her blue eyes looked, from under her long dark lashes, at the mean spirited young woman staring back.

Echo's silver almost white eyes narrowed in contempt for Juno. Her blunt black bangs and long hair framed her narrow face and made her harshness radiate from her. Echo's perfectly lined lips streamed their own trail of blood. Echo's hands felt her face for the swollen skin under her eye resulted in a hard right hook from Juno. She spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor and wiped her mouth glaring at Juno who had not backed down. Echo straightened up and righted her uniform.

Juno didn't feel as brave as she looked but managed to fill her voice with all the confidence she could fake.

"Stay away from me."

"Stay away from me," Echo said in a cruel imitation of Juno. Echo laughed encouraging the crowd to join in. Flipping her long, sleek hair Echo turned and walked away. One by one those gathered to watch the fight followed her. None gave Juno a parting look. Finally the last on looker left leaving Juno alone.

Her first year in the Academy had not been easy for Juno socially. She excelled in her studies surpassing just about every other student and this did not do anything to help her gain many friendships. Being so young painted a target on her back that only grew brighter over the passing year.

Juno's fingers trembled as she fingered the bottom of her newly shortened hair. Juno brushed off the stray long blonde hairs on her uniform. The floor was littered with her hair. The sun set her hair ablaze and the stone floor shone like gold. She bent down to pick up her cap that had flown off her head during the fight.

"What happened here?"

Juno popped up to see a strong faced young man with lush green eyes and cropped black hair. He crossed his arms and his look was disapproving. Juno dropped her cap in surprise.

"Grey…"

Juno's heart swelled with gratitude. Her closest friend's presence was a lifeline to her now. Being two years older than her Grey was able to sometimes erase the target on her back but his effect was only temporary.

Grey's gloved fingers reached out to touch her unevenly cut blonde hair. Juno turned and bent over to pick up her cap while blinking back her hot tears. She didn't want Grey, or any other person for that matter, to see her so emotionally compromised. Grey put his hand carefully on her back. It was cold to the touch causing Juno to shiver. Grey held out his hand to her.

"Come on, Juno. Let's go." Juno's long slender fingers reached out for his hand, she shivered again upon the touch and pulled away. His touch just didn't feel right. Juno shoved her hands into her pockets and refused to make eye contact so she spoke to the floor instead of Grey.

"Where are we going?"

Grey rolled his eyes, "We're getting food, Juno, duh. I mean you just won your first real fight you must be hungry." Juno's lips couldn't help themselves as they curled upwards. Grey motioned with his head indicating Juno should follow him. She trailed behind him with a little bounce in her step.

Juno merely pushed her food around on her plate. She was in no mood to eat. Her loss of appetite did nothing to deter Grey from devouring everything on his plate and hers.

"You know," he said, between mouthfuls of food, "You still shouldn't have punched Echo, no matter what she did."

Juno lips tightened as she spoke back, "She shouldn't have cut my hair." Juno's fist closed tight around her cup creating a crack along the side spilling its liquid all over her plate and it splashed a bit on Grey's.

"Hey! Watch it!" Grey yelled as he lifted his plate trying to protect his meal, "You know Juno, I don't think you should make such a big deal about this. I don't know if you've noticed this Juno, but you're the third best looking girl in this whole Academy," he pointed his utensil at her, "And with your short hair I'd say you just climbed your way to second place and Echo, that self-righteous tart was just jealous. She's as attractive as a Wookie." Juno's cheeks flushed a dark shade of pink. Grey was known for saying just the right things to the females that inhabited the Academy. Juno rolled her eyes at Grey.

He laughed, "I'm serious Juno! You may only be what, sixteen? And you've already managed to attract just about every male eye in the Academy. What I don't understand is why you don't use that to your advantage." Juno pressed her lips together. Grey stopped laughing and stared hard at Juno. There was something in them she didn't like. They were icy like his hands. His tone was serious.

"Juno, you could have anything you wanted. Anything. You just need to try. You're too scared of hurting people but you want to know a secret?" He leaned forward towards her. His voice was so low Juno propped herself on her own elbows and leaned in. His lips were at her ears.

"Everyone uses each other, Eclipse. Everyone." Juno shook her head when she spoke her voice was soft,

"Grey, you don't really believe that do you? I mean you would never use anyone would you? " He didn't answer, instead he shrugged his shoulders and began eating the soggy meal off Juno's plate.

The evening passed slowly. Juno's mind kept replaying Grey's words again and again. Did _everyone_ end up using each other to gain something they wanted? In an effort to soothe her racing mind Juno sought the Academy archives. She often found peace and solitude while searching the databases. Her mind didn't need to think as her feet carried her to her destination. They stopped unexpectedly.

Juno froze, her eyes growing to the size of saucers. She tried to make herself less known and sneak away quietly before being discovered by the passionate couple in front of her. She ended up tripping instead, the noise breaking apart the two.

Echo's eyes narrowed again and her lips parted to speak but the man, who had previously been shoving his tongue down her throat spoke first. His words were hard.

"What are you doing here, Eclipse?"

"I um, I just…" Juno's hand flung to the back of her head scratching an itch that didn't exist, "I'm sorry, Grey. I didn't think anyone would be here I didn't-"

"Oh course you didn't! You don't think at all do you?" Echo's words were laced in cruelties yet still held her sickly sweetness. It was a terrible mix. Juno was lost for words so she spun around and began a quick pace that turned into sprint.

Grey caught up to her in no time. He tried to explain but his words fell flat. He grabbed her by the arms holding on tightly ensuring she couldn't get away. Juno still struggled against him; she didn't like being forcibly touched like this.

"Juno, please listen to me!" But Grey's words were lost on her.

"I thought you said she was as attractive as a Wookie?" Juno said and there was no trace of friendliness. Grey opened his mouth to speak but Juno cut him off, "If that's the case then what was that about, huh? I thought we were friends? How could you do that with her after what she did to me today?"

"It's not what you think, Juno! Echo, she had something that I-"

"Shut up, Grey! Stop pretending, stop lying to me"

Grey realized Juno would never give him the opening to speak. He leaned in, his lips crushing against hers. Juno fought back. His body was pressed hard against her own. Juno struggled finally pushing him away from her. Then Juno slapped him with all the force she could muster.

They just stared at each other, silencing filling the space between them until Grey finally broke it.

"Juno, I told you everyone eventually uses everyone," he said while he rubbed his reddening cheek.

"Apparently," Juno raised her hand to strike him again but lowered it.

He was right.


	12. The First and The Last

**The First and The Last**

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><p>"Am I going to see you again?"<p>

She instantly regretted her question.

His back visibly sagged.

"If I can free the rebels they're going to need extraction." He turned to face her blinking as if he had never seen her clearly before.

"Probably not, no."

She believed him and her heart broke.

All the things that had remained unsaid between them both sparkled around them. All the things that _should_ have been said between them hung in her heart. It dawned on Juno, this was the last time she would most likely ever see him again.

The last time her heart would skip a beat. The last time she would be waiting for someone to return with baited breath. And last time to acknowledge that her life was irrevocably changed for the better. The last time to act, because there is nothing after, last.

Juno only prayed her words didn't speak the truth.

"Then I'll never need to live this down." Her feet reached him in two quick strides as she grabbed onto his waist pulling him towards her. Upon her touch his face reacted in such surprise that if the situation wasn't so grave she might have laughed. Juno didn't care. If he pushed her away she wouldn't regret her actions because she had at least tried if only for this first time.

Her lips pressed hard against his mingled with worry, passion and fear that she would never do this again. His lips melded with hers parting ever so slightly. Juno could tell that he had wanted this too, for how long she didn't know. His arm wrapped around her back while the other cupped her cheek.

Juno held him tighter. She didn't want to let go but knew she needed to. She knew deep down she couldn't stop him even if it meant losing him. Their lips broke apart and she could feel him beginning to slip away in the abyss below.

Juno opened her eyes, looking at Starkiller fully in the face. His eyes caught in the light and she saw that look. The look that always evaded her. The look that he thought she didn't know about. A look that was only meant for her, and her alone. The only difference was this time he didn't try to hide it.

Her heart continued to pound wildly in her chest memorizing the moment.

He was slipping away. She wanted to tell him to stay, run away with her, do anything else, but the words died in her throat.

"Goodbye, Juno."

And just like that, he was gone.

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><p>AN: I don't own anything, reviews are always welcome and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	13. Bedtime Stories

**Yep, I know it's been a while I've been so busy. But here it is! I don't own anything, reviews are always welcome and please enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Bedtime Stories<strong>

"Everything turns out okay, right, mummy?"

Juno blue eyes widened as she grasped her mother's hand. Her mother smiled gleaming a row of beautiful white teeth down at her daughter. Juno's look of fear didn't diffuse causing her mother to chuckle.

"You'll just have to wait and see." Juno's eyebrows furrowed and she snuggled closer into her mother's chest.

"I don't like this story, it's too scary," Juno said but her voice was eager and impatient for the rest of the tale.

"I agree," said a deep voice. Juno's head popped up from her mother's chest to see her father standing in the bedroom doorway with a disapproving look on his face. He spoke again his words directed at his wife.

"I don't think this is a good story to tell a six-year-old, dear." Juno's mother shot her husband a look Juno didn't understand. Juno watched her father's hard eyes soften against her mother's blue ones. He put up his hands defensively, shaking his head from side to side before disappearing but not before mumbling out a "fine".

Her mother sighed and said to Juno, "Perhaps your father is right, maybe we should finish this story for another day."

"No!" Juno pleaded staring up intently up at her mother, "I don't care what father says, I want to hear the rest!" Her mother smiled at Juno and winked, "I'm glad you don't care what your father says. Now Juno, where did we leave off?"

Juno placed a finger to her lips trying to remember the words her mother had last spoken. Her finger shot up, "Ah Ha! I remember the evil knights were coming to take the kingdom."

"That's right," her mother said and for a moment Juno thought she had heard a great sadness in her mother's voice but Juno was sure she had only imagined it. Her mother cleared her voice and continued.

"As the evil, but powerful, knights came charging towards the King's city in the sky the king ordered his faithful guards to protect the people and land he loved so much. The guards fought valiantly slaying those who had once pretended to care for the kingdom but turned their backs on the very oaths they had made so long ago."

Juno fidgeted against her mother's long silk sleeping robe.

"While the guards did their very best to obey the king, many lives were lost and a small number of the evil ones eluded the fight and sneakily crept through the land seeking the king's life. They knew that if the king died all the love and protect he so willingly gave his people would be lost forever, and they, could take control over his kingdom to rule as they saw fit."

Juno piped up, "Why would they want the kingdom? Why can't they get create their own city in the ocean, jungles or something?"

"Because Juno, these evil knights were selfish, "her mother said closing her eyes and shaking her head slowly back and forth, "It wasn't enough to have their own kingdom they wanted to steal what they could not have."

"Mother, how does it end?"

Her mother just smiled, but it did not meet her eyes as she finished the tale that captivated her young daughter.

"When the evil ones finally found the king they withdrew their magical swords which glowed with hatred. They swung and jabbed their swords at the king but he, the king, was too fast and cunning for each of them. He didn't want to fight them, as he was a good king and it wasn't in his nature to fight. Instead he tried to reason with them but the evil knights laughed in his face and spat on the ground."

"The king knew he would not be able to return the evil knights into the noble ones they feigned to be long ago. As he tried one last time to reason with them the most terrifying knights swung forward and sliced the king's face."

"The king roared in pain but to him it was a small price to pay for the safety of all those who lived within the kingdom in the clouds. Using powerful words he cast an enchantment upon the knights banishing them all away. His words were so powerful the knights could not disobey them so they traveled into darkness never to be seen again. The End."

Juno twisted the silk fabric of her mother's robe in her hands shaking ever so slightly; she then leaned in to her mother's lap and looked up as her mother stroked Juno's hair. She looked down at Juno their eyes a perfect pair.

"There aren't really evil ones, are there mother?"

Her mother's blue eyes tore themselves away from her daughter and stared out the window lost in thought, her hands continued to stroke Juno's long cascading blonde hair.

"Mother?"

"Hm?"

"They're not real are they? The evil ones?"

Her mother's voice faltered, "Of-of course not, Juno."

Juno breathed out a sigh of relief, "Good, I was afraid that one might come and find me and take me away."

Her mother just laughed, "Juno, even if they were real, the odds of you meeting one would be slim to none."

"Do you promise?" Juno asked, her eyes were glossy and wide. Juno's mother smiled, this time it went to her eyes, she leaned down to kiss her daughter's part hoping to ease her worry.

She whispered fervently into her hair, "I promise you, Juno, I will never let anything like that happen to you. Now, I think it's time you went to bed, don't you think?"

"But I'm not tired at all," Juno said, stifling a yawn. Her mother giggled again. Juno climbed beneath her warm blankets and her eyelids began to droop with sleep. Her mother tucked Juno in and gave her a final kiss goodnight. When she crossed the threshold Juno's door sealed shut and the lights started to dim. Juno finally fell asleep and dreamt of the evil ones that threatened to take her away.

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><p>Liisiko, thanks for chatting with me and thank you for your support, it means a lot.<p>

Thanks MarshMella for all your sweet reviews!


	14. Screaming

**Screaming**

He was screaming. Again. The screams vibrated inside the eerie cold of the ship. They were sudden, piercing and shattering. Juno's eyes popped open waking her from another restless night. The screams were haunting.

Although the screaming was frequent it still managed to shake Juno to her core. She could still hear him screeching from the heart of the cold ship.

The very first time she heard him cry out she had sprinted towards his location. Earlier that day he had been retrieved by Juno sporting a large gash across his chest while his blood started pooling at his feet leaving a trail of red on the otherwise immaculate floor.

"Here, let me help you," Juno said with concern offering her hands to steady him. His left hand applied more pressure to his wound while the other briefly considered her offer but changed its mind using the table to steady himself instead.

"I'm fine. I don't need help," he said coldly while pushing himself from the table only to find himself falling onto Juno. She caught him with awkward arms. She could feel his erratic breaths against her chest and she gripped him tighter. Starkiller, as weak as he was, pushed her away. His face told the entire story; he had never been held by anyone before, much less a woman, and it scared him.

Starkiller took one good look at Juno. Her bangs had fallen across her forehead, her arms half way extended to him and there was a great deal of blood on her, his blood. He barely knew her but seeing her covered in his blood sent an unfamiliar shock into his chest.

"I don't need your help," he grunted while slowly making his way to the mediation room, smearing his red handprints on the wall as he went. The door opened automatically for him then closed only to open shortly after allowing PROXY to enter carrying medical supplies. Juno knotted her hands in prayer on her chest. Her fingers were slippery and stained crimson.

Cleaning up after Starkiller wasn't Juno's job, PROXY took over those duties but Juno started to mop up the blood. It had been hours and neither PROXY nor Starkiller had emerged from the mediation room, Juno was on her hands and knees cleaning the same spot over and over again distracted in her thoughts. At last she stopped scrubbing giving her newly blistering hands rest.

The door finally moved and PROXY stepped out. Juno rose from her knees wiping her pants as she went.

"Is Starkiller, okay?"

The droid cocked its head to the side in an almost curious manner before answering.

"Oh my master has endured far worse than this so this injury was nothing."

"Oh." Juno's voice carefully neutral. She was both relieved and horrified. Relieved that he was okay but horrified that his injury was merely an insignificant little bump when compared to others.

PROXY turned from Juno to inspect her cleaning. Not satisfied he began to re-clean the ship. Juno's limbs were stiff and sore and she rubbed and stretched them all the while listening to PROXY criticize her cleaning skills. Juno wanted to check on Starkiller but she stopped herself from entering the meditation chamber. He would no doubt be unreasonably upset if she walked in and she didn't have the energy for that confrontation.

That night Juno awoke to the undescribable howls of a creature. It was in agonizing pain. Juno couldn't figure out what kind of animal could make that sound then it occurred to her, it wasn't any animal at all it was Starkiller. Something was terribly wrong.

She jumped from her bed and raced out the door. The floor was still wet from PROXY's cleaning so Juno slid across the floor ramming her body hard into the wall. She rubbed her side, it throbbed with pain. He screamed again prompting Juno to ignore her own pain and bolted once more for his location.

The meditation room's door jammed while opening. Juno pressed her eye to the small crack in the door but couldn't see Starkiller. He shrieked again calling out for something or someone but the words were so jumbled Juno didn't understand what they could be. Her heart panicking, Juno grabbed the door with her hands and pulled her arms shaking with effort.

"Ah!" Juno gasped aloud. The sharp edge of the door sliced her hand but it was worth it when the door finally gave way and Juno charged into the room. Her blue lit eyes searching the room until she found Starkiller curled up on his side in the corner shivering from something that was not the cold.

Her heart froze in her chest. Was his injury really this bad? Had PROXY been wrong? She was at his side in an instant. She reached a hand over his side to flip him over on his back but that turned out to be a mistake.

It was pure instinct but the moment Juno's soft but slightly blistered hands attempted to move him Starkiller's eyes popped open and he reacted. Even though he had not physically touched her Juno found herself thrown clean across the chamber sprawled out on her back, the ache in her side was back.

It took Starkiller a moment to realize what had happened, his groggy but alert eyes took in the scene before him. A startled Juno, dressed only in a grey issued undershirt and sleeping shorts, lay on her back rubbing her side. Starkiller shot upwards only to find a shooting pain in his chest; his earlier wounds were opening back up but he pushed the pain away making long quick strides over to his pilot.

"Juno? What are you doing here?" He said offering his hand. She flinched away from his hand afraid for a moment that he might "accidently" throw her some place else, she looked into his face and his eyes flickered. Taking a deep breath in she took his hand and he pulled her up. His eyes were cast downward and Juno noticed he was still holding her hand. She tried to pull away but he wouldn't give.

"Did I do this?" His deep chocolate eyes were hard as he spoke turning Juno's hand upward so that her dripping cut was visible. Juno tried to pull away again.

"Did I do this?" he was almost yelling at her.

"No," she said and he threw her hand back to her.

He started to pace, his once white bandages were spotted with fresh blood. Juno nodded curtly at him and started her exit. It had been a mistake to come. When she reached the door he spoke again, this time his voice had adopted a softer tone.

"Why are you in here?"

"I…" Juno rubbed her arm awkwardly refusing to meet his eyes, "I thought you needed help." He almost chuckled "You were screaming. I thought you might be hurt…" Juno just let the sentence die on its own.

"I didn't scream, Juno." He was angry again his fists balled themselves up.

"But I heard-"

"No, you didn't," he interjected. There was no point in arguing with him.

"Sorry, my mistake." Juno let herself out of the room.

The next few months the screams came and went. Starkiller warned her not to help him but Juno, some nights couldn't help but run to the mediation chamber and sit outside until the screaming stopped. She didn't know why but it made her feel better to be close to him just in case he might actually need her. Once or twice she could make out a few words but he mostly screamed about Vader and had Juno not known he was thousands of light years away Juno would have thought he was in the chamber torturing Starkiller.

It wasn't until after Vader's betrayal of Starkiller and his rescuing of Juno that he, Starkiller called out for another during his restless sleep. Starkiller called out for Juno and her heart broke to hear it.

Juno sat outside the chamber, her back pressed against the wall her knees curled up to her face. He called from within the room speaking Juno's name over and over with earsplitting panic. Tonight was no different, He was screaming. Again.

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Sorry this update has taken a while. My computer crashed and I lost all of my writings. Super thanks to Liisiko for inspiring me to get out of my writing slump. Thanks, Liisiko!


	15. Breaking

**Breaking**

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><p>Juno's hands flew to her mouth in shock and disbelief. It was impossible. It was beyond impossible. With a constrained voice Kota had told Juno that he wasn't coming back, he was dead. Yet here he was. Galen stood at the far side of the empty room his face mirrored hers. Juno took one step towards him then another; the steps grew into a run, her face was speckled with glistened tears. He copied her movements, his face was void of tears but an incredible smile of happiness was painted on him.<p>

Juno ran into his outstretched arms hitting him with such force that Galen had to take a few steps back. Her fingers grasped for his shirt balling the fabric tightly in her fists. He was real. He was here. Galen wrapped his arms around Juno pressing her firmly against him as though he was afraid she might slip away into nothingness.

Juno leaned her head into him, flatting her palms against his chest feeling his heart beat in her hands. Closing her eyes Juno took in the moment. Rough fingers dipped beneath Juno's chin lifting her sapphire eyes to his warm brown eyes.

"You're supposed to be dead," Juno said to Galen, never pulling her eyes away from his. Galen let out his signature coy little smile; Juno had missed it so much.

"Do I look dead to you?" They just stared at each other before Juno broke into uncharacteristic giddy laughter. But her laughter was silenced by Galen's lips upon hers.

Juno breathed into the kiss. This was the so familiar; It was better than familiar. They broke apart; Galen tucked the small strands of golden hair back behind Juno's ear. His heart continued to pound rhythmically in beneath her gloved palms reminding Juno just how real Galen was.

Words remained silent between the two. Both Galen and Juno stared into each other's face their eyes hungry and ravenous as if they could never tire of the other.

Without warning Galen's knees buckled beneath him. Juno tried to catch him but he pushed her away crying out in agonizing pain. His hands clenched at his chest, ripping open his white tunic and digging at the skin as if he was trying to claw out his very heart.

"Stop It!" Juno cried trying to get to Galen but he denied her access , pushing her back, while howling in pain. The air was thick with an electric current that raised goose bumps up the back of her neck. Juno took one hard run at Galen's convulsing form.

The instant small delicate fingers touched him Galen vanished into nothingness. The room lost all out its defined edges as it too sank into darkness rivaled to the empty pit of space.

"Galen!" she screamed with an unquenchable fire burning within her, she would not lose him again.

"Gal-!" her voice caught short as she too was sucked into the poisonous dark. Heaviness set upon her like a thunderous ocean threatening to drown her. Somewhere between the spaces of swirling voids and brink of destruction Juno could see Galen, his eyes wide in panic for her. Their arms stretched out for each in utter desperation. Fingertips brushed against each other connecting the two but a pulling sensation from Juno's navel hooked her back sending her free falling into the blackness while hearing a dead man cry out for her.

Juno bolted upright from her sleep, small pearls of sweat slid down her cheeks as she tried to still her shaking breath. It wasn't fair. If Galen was dead why did she have to see him in her nightmares? The dreams had started to become continually worse for Juno in the weeks following Galen's death. Juno didn't want to admit her sickness but there was a part of her that was grateful for these dreams; at least in one way she could see him again even if her heart died every time.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Juno placed her right hand over her chest feeling her heart. _Why should my heart beat when yours is silent?_ In some ways Juno envied Galen's death; to her living a constant reminder of his absence was more than unbearable. This was a secret pain Juno would not share.

Clutching a small piece of torn and dirt fabric in her hands Juno blinked out a few silent silver tears, she didn't even try to wipe them away. Phantom lips could still be felt upon her own.

Juno unfurled her hands causing the piece of white fabric to blossom in her cupped hands. This was the only physical thing Juno had left of Galen. After his death Juno had found this small piece of cloth caught in the outer workings of ship and she instantly recognized who its owner had been. Somewhere between their kiss and his farewell his long white robe must have caught on something leaving a small piece of him behind.

It was a different feeling being alone. When she marched down the cleanly white halls Juno held her head up, face strong, and eyes alert. No one would know the secret burden she carried inside her heart. Heart, that was wrong. Juno no longer felt like she had one rather her heart had been replaced by a small blinking machine; keeping her alive but feeling dead all the same.

Kota, Juno thought must have suspected how Juno felt. Sometimes he would shake his head in her general direction, his eyes low, or pat her back reassuringly giving her an extra squeeze on her shoulder. Then again, how could an old Jedi know how she felt, how could anyone?

Absent-mindedly Juno thumbed the small piece of fabric while lost in thought. So often she thought about throwing the cloth away. Galen wouldn't have wanted Juno to hold onto such painful reminders and if their roles were reversed Juno knew she would want him to do the same but she could not find it in herself to do it. Lowering her back onto the firm but comfortable bed Juno laid there, cloth pressed against her heart while her eyes stared blankly ahead.

There was a small metal tapping on the door, it was probably PROXY coming to wake her for the early briefing that required Juno's attendance. She pocketed the white reminder and started to prepare for her day. Routine was the perfect medicine. Routine created the illusion of purpose.

Juno caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror. Blue eyes once bright and eager were unfamiliarly dull. Juno tried to smile but the best she could do was wear the false one she had come to adopt. Galen had died so she could live but this wasn't really living this was a mockery to those living as Juno had died weeks ago.

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><p>Author's Notes: Sorry it's taken me forever to update, I've been so busy with school, work and personal things. Thank you Plumb for your song "Cut" which was such great inspiration for this piece. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!<p> 


	16. Traitor

Sorry it's taken a while to update my story! I'm very busy participating in nanowrimo and it's taking up all my writing time but be on the look out for more chapters that are hopefully on their way. I don't own anything, reviews are always welcome and please enjoy!

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><p><strong>Traitors<strong>

"Grey, please," Juno crumpled to the floor forcing herself to look at the cold steel eyes bearing down upon her. There was nothing there except an icy dislike. Juno's body felt stiff, broken, beaten and unfamiliar, her once spotless pilot's jacket stuck to her sides from the dried blood and frigid sweat.

Grey's outline was becoming blurry as Juno started to succumb to fatigue and the pale iris liquid that had been injected into her forearm began to take its effect on her. Biting down onto her cracked lips Juno could taste her own blood splitting her bottom lip in two. Her voice was hoarse like sandpaper as she tried once more to plead with her once forgotten friend, "Grey. Grey, please help me." The world was suddenly blanketed in darkness that rivaled the deepest corners of space.

When Juno awoke she found herself hanging limply suspended by her arms above the floor. Thump, thump, thump. Juno was amazed to find her heart still beating. A small thought entered her mind like an intruder; she should be dead just like _him._

It didn't seem right that Starkiller should be dead while she still was alive. All of the impossible tasks he walked away from still breathing made this death hard to believe. When she was first told she refused to believe it thinking it to be one of Vader's tests or a poorly planned out trick that Starkiller thought up. She was surprised however to find a pang that shot quickly into her heart when she heard of his demise. Though out of the two of them, Juno would have said he was the lucky one. Death was much more preferable than the stained mark of a traitor.

"Juno." Juno didn't answer him but focused on the floor beneath her. Grey softened his voice sounding like the boy she had met years ago when she entered the academy. For just a minute Juno felt like she could believe him so she met his gaze, but the look in his eyes told her otherwise.

"Juno, please listen to me." Juno's lips moved but no sound escaped. Grey's eyes darted from left to the right in a panicked gesture. He was afraid of being caught talking to such an undesirable tarnish like her that it would smear such a spotless record as his own, and this would be unforgivable if Grey had hopes of climbing farther in his career. Her head drooped back down feeling unwanted and shameful.

"Juno, they're going to do it. They're going to kill you," he voice transformed into a hurried whisper, "Juno, do you remember back in the academy when they were developing that serum?" Juno's head popped up automatically her heart beating wildly in her chest. She remembered a little too well the serum that caused so many horrified mummerings in the academy. At first she thought these stories were nothing more than a myth but when she saw the black serum herself a deep seeded fear grew within her.

"They think it's done and you've become quite a convenient test subject, Juno. I'm not trying to scare you. I'm trying to help you." Juno licked her lips tasting the dried saltiness of her own blood. She tried swallowing the lump growing within her throat that captured her voice.

Grey cleared his own throat speaking in a direct controlled whisper, "I can take you away, Juno. I can free you and take you somewhere where they can't hurt you," Grey's arms extended to Juno reaffirm his offer, "You just have to promise to stay with me. If you stay with me and do everything I ask I promise I will take care of you." His finger's lightly grazed the side of her cheek, his touch felt like a ghost.

Juno's mind was lost in a fog of thoughts; did Grey care for her? Had he always? The offer was more than Juno could hope for at this moment. If she went with Grey she could be safe, still breathing but unhappy. What did it matter in the long run would forfeiting being happy really matter if it meant she could live. This was the second time he had presented Juno with such an offer and last time she almost took it.

A pang rang through her head. Something deep within her was trying to escape, there was a part of her that still lived and thought for herself. She had to remember the Grey she had discovered years ago and who he really was as his words were always deceiving.

Beneath the mask of sweet intoxicating words there was a sinister plot in Grey's request. If Juno said yes then what she would really be trading in the end was herself. Yes, going with Grey would mean life but what would the quality of life be? Already branded a traitor Juno knew that she would never have any real say in what she did if she went with Grey.

A vision struck Juno. There she was years older standing by a window like a prisoner, her hair grown to her waist hands rubbing her swollen belly nervously while she waited silently for Grey's arrival home. Grey marched in, his face full of misjudged anger for the woman he had tricked into becoming just another trophy he collected. Juno's spirit was gone and defeated while he shouted insult over insult in her face. The child she was carrying was not created by love but by a sense of duty and payment for her own life.

Juno felt dizzy and it wasn't because of the lack of water she received as a prisoner aboard The Empirical, it was the idea of giving up this life for another one. Juno had already started so many lives so what could one more false one possibly do to her? But could she really make that choice? She had refused him once before in what felt like so many lifetimes ago could she afford to say no again?

Grey stood rigid in front of Juno staring into her sky eyes hoping for her surrender to him. An orange glow cast an eerie shadow over his features and Juno found herself sweating from the rising temperature. Grey licked his lips while a single bead of sweat trickled down from his temples. Juno's cracked lips opened up to give him an answer, an answer that would change her life for better or worse.

"Grey, I-" but before Juno could finish her words there was a panicked voice overhead. Several storm troopers started running around her in a panic screaming from one to the other. All Juno could make out in the confusion before her was that there was some sort of malfunction with the escape pods and an escaping prisoner. Juno's lips pulled apart at either end, _Good for them_ she thought. Grey looked at her smile and slapped her face hard and cold. He looked her body over like a dried piece of meat before barking orders at the troopers.

He spat his words in her face, "I'll be back and by then I expect some kind of answer you filthy traitor." Juno watched him walk briskly away pulling his blaster from his belt as he prepared to deal with whoever was causing so much trouble aboard the ship. He turned to give her one last piece of advice, "Oh and Juno, if I were you I would think very carefully about your choice. If it's not the correct one I will personally inject you with that serum."


	17. Punch

Sorry it's taken me a while to update, I've been extremely busy. I don't own anything, reviews are always welcome and I hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Punch<strong>

Starkiller stood on the tips of his toes to gaze over the crowded club searching for the blonde hair he'd grown so accustomed to.

Juno sat at the bar, her shoulders squeezed together as the crowd jostled and pushed behind her trying to get their drinks or better yet steal the drink someone else had paid for. There was a sharp bump from behind and the drink that had almost been to Juno's lips was now spilt on her shirt.

She sat up a little straighter grabbing a napkin and began wiping the obvious stainable green drink. "Just great," she mumbled to herself as her began to rub at the fabric. The Empire wasn't very forgiving when it came to replacing uniforms. Juno was so preoccupied with her stain that she had failed to notice a very drunk green haired man, with his a straight nose hovering over her.

"Sorry, that's my bad," he said, his words slurring with effort as he sloshed a little more drink onto Juno's shoulder. Juno flipped her head sideways taking one good look at him and gave her usual tight-lipped smile that didn't reach her eyes, "That's okay, don't worry about it, I'm sure it was an accident." With that Juno turned to face forward hoping that his man would just leave her in peace but that wasn't the case.

The seat next to Juno opened up and the green-haired man toppled next to her, his eyes only focused on her chest and he licked his lips. Juno shuddered inwardly, this man was disgusting and she wasn't in the mood to deal with his behavior right now. She stood to leave, but a strong hand on her arm kept her from leaving.

The man looked at Juno with a lustful stare and tightened his grip on her arm. Juno was surprised that someone this drunk could have such a firm grip. "Please, let go of me," she said, keeping her voice controlled while trying to pull away but the man jerked her nearer to him. "Come on," he said pulling her closer to him, "Don't leave, at least not yet." His free arm reached out to grab Juno's other arm but Juno pulled back, her voice loud but muffled by the noise of the club.

"Let go of me!" Juno raised her hand to slap him but the man grabbed that, pulling her nearer to him. Juno could smell the strong drink on his breath as he pulled himself closer to her. "We haven't had any fun yet, sweet thing. Come on, what do you say, one kiss and I might just let you go." His eyes draped over her body again and Juno felt a sickening drop in her stomach.

She tried to cry out again, "Let go!"

A sickening snap shot through the air and the man found himself flat on his back. Starkiller's hands were tightly wound into a fist, his hands dark with someone else's blood. The man groaned and tried to roll over but couldn't. His hand searched his face and was repulsed to find himself gushing blood from both his mouth and nose. He gurgled something at Starkiller but it was mixed in the dripping red. He coughed suddenly producing two teeth onto the floor. The crowd formed a neat circle careful not to come to close to Starkiller's seething attitude. Starkiller faced the crowd and with each face he passed they lowered their heads not daring to make eye contact.

The offending man attempted to sit up and through bloodied gums tried to talk to Starkiller, "What was the for, who do you think-"

Starkiller was on him in a second, punching him squarely in the face, again and again. The club was quiet except for the thumping of the bloodied man's head against the cool, stone floor. Juno leapt off her seat in an instant pushing her way through the crowd as she screamed, "Starkiller, stop it. Stop it!"

If Starkiller heard her he didn't act on it but continued to beat this man. His arm cocked back to strike but Juno grabbed it tight forcing him to look backwards at him. His face was beyond angry as he turned to face Juno. He hadn't really been expecting to see Juno standing there holding his arm, her face full of bewilderment; Instead he was waiting for someone to challenge him to stop, his other arm was raised as if to hit her.

As if someone had pricked her with a needle Juno let go off Starkiller's arm, her mouth open but no words spilled out. She took a few steps backwards into the edge of the mute crowd and her face said everything. She was afraid that he was going to hurt her.

They stared at each other in silence except for the gurgling man lying in a puddle of blood on the floor, and then Juno turned to leave. She knocked her way through the throng of people muttering the occasional "Excuse me," she needed to get out of there and she needed to do it fast.

"Juno!" Starkiller yelled but she didn't come back. The crowd exchanged nervous glances at each other, a small mummer broke out and a glass shattered somewhere behind the bar.

The man lying on the floor started to laugh, it was a disgusting sound, "Look at that, not even the girl likes to be around you." He laughed harder but stopped because of the pain spreading from his mouth. Starkiller dug his fingernails into the middle of his palms, his lips curled into a snarl of hatred. Starkiller turned to the man of the floor taking long, wide steps towards him. The man's eyes opened to the size of saucers and he tried to crawl along to the floor to get away form his attacker. Starkiller raised one of his hands and the man rose slowly from the ground, his legs swinging wildly from under him. Taking a step back the crowd watched in anticipated horror as with one sweeping gesture of Starkiller's starting to bruise hand the man was thrown to the other side of the room. Starkiller turned to leave, the crowd parting silently for him, he exited the club standing on his toes once more to see if he could spot a glimpse of blonde hair racing from him down the backed streets.

Juno walked with a purpose towards nowhere trying to forget the scene that had just happened but it wouldn't let her as it replayed itself over, and over in her head.

"Juno!" Starkiller had caught up to her in no time, matching her every stride, he looked sideways at her but she refused to meet his face, "Why did you leave so suddenly?"

Juno's feet skidded to a stop, she turned to face him, and her voice was incredulous, "Really you're asking me why I left?" Starkiller stared at her, his brown eyes were hard, and he nodded at her. "Let's see," Juno said sarcastically bringing one finer up to her chin, "You almost killed a man, over a spilt drink and when I went to stop you," her sarcasm faded and was replaced with hidden pain, "You almost hurt me. Why would I have wanted to stay?"

Starkiller rubbed they back of his head taking in what Juno had said to him. His hands fell to his side and he stared at Juno with sincerity, "Juno, he shouldn't have touched you like that, it wasn't right."

Juno was angry, "But still, he didn't deserve to almost be killed, that's not how those kind of things are handled."

Starkiller interjected, "Do you think I could stand by and watch that happen? Despite what you might think, Juno you don't deserve to be treated like that and I wasn't about to anything happen to you." Both Starkiller and Juno stood frozen at this surprising confession. Starkiller then added quickly, "I mean, you're my pilot, do you know how hard it is to keep getting new ones?" Starkiller walked away from Juno, his back was slouched. Juno twisted her fingers just thinking.

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><p>Thanks so much for all of the support I've been receiving for this story! I can't even express how wonderful it feels to know your work is appreciated. Thank you, thank you!<p> 


	18. Sometimes

**Sometimes**

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><p>Sometimes, there was too much space between the time before and the time to come. It had been weeks, probably months, since he last spoke to her but to Juno it was all the same time.<p>

Sometimes, when her mind wasn't calculating jumps, Juno caught flashes of his brown eyes staring at her with such calm intensity that her heart started to catch in her throat.

Sometimes, Juno would nod her head while Kota spoke to her while never hearing a word because it reminded her of a stolen life.

Sometimes the distance between the pilot's chair and the co-pilot's was too far to measure.

Sometimes Juno could still feel her mother's soft arms around her and hear a calm voice reading stories to her. It was one her most cherished memories. Juno still missed her after all this time and wished nothing more than to talk to her. To ask her just one question and that would be enough.

Sometimes Juno would catch herself thinking of all the ways he could come back to her, even if there were nothing but faded disappointments.

Sometimes if Juno worked hard enough there wasn't any time to remember.

Sometimes Galen made a mess just so Juno would argue with him. And sometimes Juno was grateful.

Sometimes, while planning any kind of attack, Juno hoped that _he_ would be proud.

Sometimes Juno thought of her father and wondered if she ever crossed his mind. Juno doubted that he knew she was still alive and wondered if that made him sad, even if only for a moment.

Sometimes, after PROXY spoke, she and Galen would sit with tight-lipped smiles until one of them broke out in laughter. And since he never laughed she always broke first.

Sometimes Juno couldn't believe how the galaxy had shifted and she had been there to witness it all.

Sometimes Juno _wished_ he would use his powers and read her mind. That way maybe he'd finally kiss her.

Sometimes Juno would take out that small, torn, dirty, white cloth and stare at it for hours until she heard his voice telling her to let it go. But she couldn't. She wouldn't.

Sometimes Juno wanted to cry. For him. For herself. For all those who had been hurt or mistreated. Juno wanted to cry but she had never been one for tears.

Sometimes Galen would spend hours meditating trying to hide his feelings. If Vader suspected anything it would mean Juno's life and that was the fear that haunted his dreams at night.

She turned her head sideways to speak to him. All she faced was an empty chair because sometimes, she forgot he was gone.

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><p>Author's Notes: I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long time. There has been a serious illness in my family making finding time to write a difficult task. I will try to do better with updates. I hope you enjoyed my meager apology and short chapter. I wanted to try something a little different this time let me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed this piece and reviews are always welcome.<p> 


	19. Reassignment

**Reassignment**

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><p>Reassignment was never a good word to be thrown around. It either meant one of two things. The first was that a pilot had shown extraordinary work and thus must be rewarded. The second meaning was undesirable. To be undesirable was a code that meant you had made an error so severe that reassignment was necessary and there was no way to redeem yourself.<p>

Juno Eclipse knew exactly which category she fell into. She understood that her actions on Callos had been less than satisfactory to the Empire. Juno spent hours on her bed rethinking everything about that bombing run. Every detail was poured over in excruciating effort but no matter how Juno looked at her actions she couldn't deny that the bombing didn't sit well in her gut.

Juno scolded herself for being so weak. Any other pilot in the system would have bombed the once lush planet and left without a second thought. Those feelings of regret were still buried within her no matter how many times the blonde pilot refused to believe they were still living. A childhood full of distance and loathing should have prepared her for this emotional dilemna. Yet, it did.

Her reassignment was vague at best. There was nothing to pick at, scratch at until it bled. Juno had glumly gone down to receive her orders earlier in the day, her head hung high even though it left like it was holding the world. Walking among other pilots Juno refused to show them she was beaten and with even head turned her way and smirk given to her it only deepened her resolve.

"I'm sorry, but this is it?" Juno ambushed the captain with her question, her reassignment held tightly in her fist. He glanced up bored his hard blue eyes swept over her, "You should be honored. It's a high position." He returned to his data reports sounding like he didn't believe a single word he uttered so neither did Juno. Normally Juno would have fought, grabbed the captain's cap from his head, and demanded more answers. Her lips curled into a tight, false smile. "Thank you." Her heels clicked together as she walked away.

The hanger was empty, Juno had walked around twice to be sure. Juno clicked her tongue as she stared up the ship. It was outdated. Surely this was not the ship Juno was meant to fly but the ship fit her assignment's profile perfectly. Juno rocked back and forth stretching her arms behind her. She was bored and was suddenly aware of how uncomfortable her uniform was. She zipped down her jacket pausing, if she had done this on any other mission she could have been dismissed easily. _You can't get lower, can you_, Juno thought to herself. The tip of her shoe knocked a crate that sent a few tools spilling over the side.

The corner of her mouth smiled. Tools that was something she knew how to use. Juno busied herself only to be distracted a short time later with what sounded like her own voice.

Juno dropped her tools and headed over. She caught "herself" talking to a young man who seemed a little too interested in this false Eclipse. Holodroids were nothing new but it using the likeness of herself annoyed her greatly. She didn't even let herself finish speaking before interrupting. It was bad enough the Empire knew so much about her. Juno didn't need a stranger taking history lessons of her life.

"You wouldn't happen to have a psychological profile too?

"Do you know why you're here?"

Juno fought the urge to slap him. The arrogance, the tone of stupidity, and the brief glance directed at Juno's chest. This boy was nothing but a nuisance. It didn't take Juno long to figure him out. From the broad shoulders and poorly attended clothing Juno put together that he must be some poor hired help. Perhaps he owed the Empire a favor but she doubted it in the way he held himself. He was broken but proud.

Great, Juno thought. All I need another waste of my time. In her head Juno quickly calculated her odds of getting back into her fighter. Not good. Swallowing her doubts and unmistakable hatred of this assignment she answered back like the dutiful pilot she was.

"My orders are clear. I'm to keep your ship running and take you where ever your missions require." Juno crossed her arms tightly across her chest taking in her new charge. He was handsome in a wild-living-off-the-land-way, Juno pondered. As if she was into that kind of man anyway on the contrary. Juno liked her men orderly, professional and just not whatever this guy was.

She caught the brown of his iris and knew he was thinking the same thing as she was. They both were dismissing each other already preparing for the other to fail or become a nuisance. Her anger churned beneath her cool exterior. The young man walked around her smirking ever so slightly. "Did they tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Juno raised an eyebrow.

He stopped his hand sliding over his mouth possibly hiding a malicious smile. "Vader killed my last pilot." Juno was about to interject but the boy continued. "In fact, he's killed the last, oh-" He started counting on his fingers and stopped at seven digits. "Seven."

This made sense to Juno. Vader had that kind of reputation but still it was a little unnerving but she couldn't let this kid get to her. "I'm sure they disappointed Lord Vader, _I _ will not." She wasn't she her passenger had even heard what she said as he was already headed towards the ship."

Juno breathed in heavily and started for the ship. _Seven. Seven pilots._ Juno ran the number over in her head.

"What have you done to my ship?" The young man was angrily surveying the ship's exterior. He looked displeased and his hands curled tightly into a fist that wanted to hit something or someone. Juno didn't even raise an eyebrow. "I've taken the liberty of updating the-"

"Let me stop you right there." He was in her face in an instant. His eyes seemed to burn into hers. "This is my ship. You don't make any changes without asking me first, do you understand?" Juno would not give him the satisfaction of a verbal answer but nodded a small "yes" his way. He turned his back to her and muttered as he walked up the ramp. Juno called after him,

"You're one of Vader's spies aren't you?" He froze. Juno tiptoed to the bottom of the ramp, the boy hadn't moved an inch. Juno was about to call his name but realized, she didn't even know what it was. He turned finally with vemon in voice, "You don't need to know anything about me or my missions. Now, I need a jump to Nar Shadda. Can you handle that?"

The urge to slap him again welled up inside Juno. She walked past him briskly hitting his shoulder.

"Of course."

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><p>AN: Thanks so much for all of the support for this story. It truly means a lot to me. Reviews are always welcome and please enjoy.


	20. Notice

**Notice**

"Eclipse, open up." There was a loud pounding on the aged door, but there was no response. The two officers exchanged glances. The red haired officer looked at his superior and shrugged his shoulders, "Doesn't seem to anybody home". The superior officer's lips folded in together before he pounded the door again.

"Eclipse! We have something for you." The two officers waited, and waited. The red haired one spoke again, "Can't we just leave?"

"You know that's against protocol," snapped the other, "This is Imperial law, and I can't wait to see Eclipse's face when we deliver this notice."

"You already know it?" The young officer's eyes went wide. These kinds of notices were rare to come by. Usually when there was news of any kind, the Empire would have just sent a prerecorded hologram. It was very impersonal, but it suited their style very well. A slight tingling went up the junior officer's back. Something about receiving an in-person notice seemed out of place. "Yeah, I know it." The beard of the other officer twitched upward for a minute.

He raised his fist to knock one more time, but before his gloved hand hit the door it opened. Out walked an older gentleman. His temples were decorated with what used to be blonde hair now turned silver. His face was wrinkled beyond his age as if he had already lived four lifetimes. The corners of his mouth were bent permanently downward as if daring anyone to challenge him. Although his body appeared to be weak his voice was strong and demanding.

"What do you want? I don't have time to be interrupted by the two of you." The red haired officer glanced over the man's shoulder. The inside of his home was dark and he couldn't imagine what he and his companion could have been interrupting.

"I have a message, "said the superior officer coolly, Are you Eclipse?"

The older man glared back taking both officers in fully before answering, "I am."

The superior officer coughed into his hand before continuing. He would often stand still and silent for a time before delivering such messages just to witness the receiver sweating over their impending notice, but this man didn't seem like the sweating type.

"Your daughter, Juno Eclipse, was found guilty of traitorous behavior. Her actions were deemed worthy of execution, and her sentence will be carried out in-"

"Wait a minute!" Eclipse waved his finger at the officer, "Are you telling me my daughter is to be killed?"

"Yes, but-"

"But, what? That's all I need to know. I don't need your pity, or your long speeches. Now go." The officers exchanged looks.

"Go"

Neither officer spoke another word as they turned to go. Eclipse watched them walk far enough away before shutting the door and heading inside.

The once bright eyes blinked trying to adjust to the darkness again. Eclipse's home hadn't changed much in the years since Juno left. Then again, nothing had changed since his wife died. Eclipse could almost hear her musical voice in his ear, _our only child, sent to die. How could you?_ His hand rested on his heart. Juno had been the only connection left to his wife. He rubbed the back of his head, trying to rub away an ache he couldn't figure.

He closed his eyes and recalled the last happy memory he had with his family. The golden hair of his wife shimmered and bounced as she threw her head back and laughed. Juno's hand slipped out from under his, her eyes as bright and wide as the sky. She smiled up, full mouthed at her father, as the plant she carried appeared to be waving hello. Eclipse put his arm around his wife's shoulders and her hand touched his gently. It had been Juno's birthday and there was nothing but glee throughout the day. The glee wouldn't last the next night as in the morning his wife would be dead. Eclipse chewed the inside of his cheek simply pondering at what he had done.

Some father he had been. Eclipse had refused to look at Juno without explaining much. He had never been one to express his feelings well. In Juno's eyes he saw his shattered life, and a wife who was stolen away too quickly. Eclipse could not help being the man he was, but he was never the man he intended to be.

Eclipse walked towards Juno's room. Inside her bed was still unmade from the morning she left years ago. He remembered her pleading with him to take her to the transport station, but in his stubbornness he refused. Even with all of her honorable accomplishments in the Imperial service he never once attended any of the ceremonies. Juno always attempted to reach out to him, but after her graduation ceremony, in which he ignored the invitation, she contacted him less and less until finally, she stopped altogether.

Eclipse wiped his finger along a dusty unused table. His fingers caught against the small side of a piece of paper, one edge reached up for the sky. He shook the parchment not caring if his clothes were dirtied by the fallen specks of grey. He could see the faint outline of Juno's handwriting from when she was a younger girl.

_Father,_

_ I'm sorry about trying to get you to take me to the transport. I forgot how busy you get sometimes. Don't worry, we'll see each other soon. I promise I'll come home._

_Your daughter,_

_ Juno_

Eclipse crushed the note in his hands. Regret, as he learned, would get you know where. His hair seemed to silver just a little more, his posture sagged, and he held himself up a little less. Somewhere inside he hoped, no, he prayed that Juno held no fond memories of him. He didn't want himself to be the last thing she thought of before…

Before….

No. He didn't deserve to be her last thought. If there was any mercy in the universe, hopefully Juno already thought her father to be dead. He might as well have been.

Eclipse moved slowly out of Juno's room taking in her neat but delicate trinkets, old and withered plants, and her holograms still playing next to her bedside. Once in the main room Eclipse pulled up a chair for himself and tucked the crumpled ball of paper into his pocket.

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><p>Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long to update. Life has thrown me a few curve balls recently. Thank you for all of your continued support. I could not keep writing without my faithful readers. Thank you!<p> 


	21. Gone

**Gone**

Her smile of utter happiness was crushed down by the weight of sheer disbelief. Grateful, but saddened faces glanced her way. Her eyes scanned the room one more time. Her heart wanted to see what her eyes wouldn't let her, but once again the numbers didn't add up She counted in her head, then she counted again, only one face was missing. It was the one that mattered the most.

The old man stood before her and she was glad that he didn't have any sight, as tears built up in the corner of her eyes. Juno cleared her throat, "Where is he?" her voiced quivered . Even with his white, senseless eyes Juno felt as though he saw straight through her. His aged hand rested on her shoulder, Juno twitched back with the unfamiliarity of closeness and compassion. Kota's voice was soft ,and for a moment Juno recognized his tone. She'd heard it once before when she had learned about the death of her mother.

"He's gone, Juno. He's-"Juno backed away slowly, her left hand covered her mouth in shock. She had to close her eyes and take in what Kota said. He's gone. Gone, gone, gone. And he wasn't coming back.

Those he'd rescued stood in a corner looking relieved, their hushed voices became a dull noise. Juno let out a breath she didn't know he had been holding. Among the rescued, a woman stood huddled with the rest, her eyes met Juno's for a minute as if she was sorry, but Juno knew none of them truly knew what she had lost. No one knew how she felt about Galen. Juno guessed Kota had somehow always known.

Her heart choked when she said his name in her head but swallowed down her feelings. As natural as it would be to slide down to her knees and cry, that kind of emotional compromise was uncomfortable for Juno. Instead she asked, her voice strong and dead, "Where would you like to go?"

Kota breathed in, "Juno, you don't have to-"

"Yes, I do, "Juno interrupted putting her hands on her hips. Having some sort of structure was keeping her together. Her training had taught her to go forward. Find a purpose, a destination, anything to keep her from breaking.

"Well? Any place you'd like to go or should we just sit here waiting to be captured again?" Juno stood a little straighter daring her emotions to get the best of her.

"Kashyyyk. We'll go to Kashyyk, please Juno." Kota turned his back moving towards the group of the rescued.

_How fitting_, thought Juno as she walked slowly towards the cockpit, counting each step with a heaviness in her heart that she didn't think she could feel anymore. Kashyyyk had been Galen's home, now it was meant to be his memorial.

The jump was calculated perfectly the first time, but Juno was a perfectionist and calculated it once more to be safe. Galen would have killed her if she let anything happen to those he'd just sacrificed himself for, including a silly jump gone wrong. Juno found herself to be smiling. Then her smiling turned into an uncontrollable, unnatural laugh. She laughed till her sides her, suddenly like a switch had been turned, the laughter transitioned into sobbing. Juno sat in the pilot's chair, her hair falling out into her hands with each sob that jerked her body.

Years ago, Juno believed she had purged herself of emotions like this. Emotions that compromised her, emotions that truly showed her that we still gave a damn. _You almost fooled everyone. Just almost. Here you are crying over the only person who cared enough to come back to find you. You should have shown him you cared so much sooner. _ Juno chastised herself in her mind. Black gloved hands hit themselves against the console ripping slightly. No longer greiving, Juno was angry. She had everything she'd ever wanted in her fingers, and yet she let it slip away. It had been like holding the sea in one's hand. You can't quite get all of the sea, but you can hold a small piece. This piece had run straight through the cracks between Juno slendor fingers. Her tongue grazed over her lip, and she could almost feel the only kiss that ever mattered there.

Juno wiped her eyes watching the droplets slide off her fingertips onto the cold floor. Her eyes lifted themselves to the chair beside her. Juno closed her eyes knowing that if she opened them she would find heartbreak. He wasn't here. He was gone.

Juno opened her eyes again and gazed at _his_ chair. She could almost imagine Galen walking into the cockpit. His cocky smile would meet her face, and he was sure to tell her that she was being overly dramatic. Juno waited, but he didn't come. There wasn't anything that Galen had left behind for her, and Juno was glad for it.

The air held a stillness and Juno could taste her own salty tears on her lips. Once again she wiped off her tears. Publically she would never show her emotions. Galen would not have wanted her to mourn for him. Although it was never spoken, somewhere deep within her, Juno knew that Galen had died for something he wanted.

A hopeful smile grew on Juno's face. The only Galen she'd known was one that followed orders. It was merciful to think that in his last moments he'd been free.

The dashboard light up with glistening greens and blues. The jump was completed, and now Juno needed to take over from the auto pilot. The blonde hairs that were previously fallen in the way of Juno's sky eyes were carefully pinned back. Juno sniffed back the remainder of her saddness while straightening out her shirt and coat. For anyone else the loss of a loved one might have crippled them to the naked eye, but Juno was always one to never show her imperfections.

The planet looked so much the same, and yet there was something different about it, but the small hut Galen had described to Juno still stood. The _Rouge Shawdow_ landed without any hiccups. She was a reliable ship, and had never failed Juno in the past, but something about this machine felt foreign to Juno's insides. With the landing ramp lowered Juno watched the passengers make their way, one by one, towards the haunted past of the man who had given everything to free them.

_This had better be worth it Galen_, Juno thought as she walked slowly from the ship. Still making her way down the ramp, Juno slipped off her gloves and tossed them to the side. Juno wanted to feel the cold billowing steam from the ramp, the steel and wires that held together this sacred place with her own skin. Fingers could feel the chilled metal and then something soft. Juno's fingers tugged at the softness she could feel but could not see. Kota called to her.

"I'm coming," she yelled with her fingers still trying to pull the soft from its hiding place. A small rip sounded as Juno pulled harder. Something floated down and landed on Juno's boot.

Closing her eyes, Juno put a hand to her mouth. Juno opened her eyes again trying very carefullly not to let her eyes trick her. It wasn't a trick. There lying like a sleeping creature was a torn, dirty, and very small piece of white fabric. It was unmistakeable to Juno where is came from. Juno picked up the cloth gingerly, and smiled. This was something tangible that Juno could hold on to. It was proof of the final encounter she and Galen had exchanged. It was some proof, real proof that Galen had lived. Everything of his was gone. As if he'd known that he wouldn't be returning all of Galen's clothes had vanished, his miscellaneous "toys" dissappeared, and even his friend was buried somewhere in the snow.

Juno pocketed the precious find, and headed towards the others. She could feel her heart breaking, but the world would never know.

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><p>Author's Notes: Thanks for all the support and I hope you enjoyed this last chapter. Keep on the lookout for my companion piece called: To Walk With the Stars.<p> 


	22. New Starts

**New Starts**

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><p>"Thanks. This jacket is um…" she tried hard to find the words "Nice." The green jacket was heavy in her hands, and the metallic pattern on the shoulders wouldn't do Juno any favors, but it was a nice gesture all the same.<p>

"They tell me it's green," said Kota trying not to draw too much attention about the whole thing, but trying to make light of the situation. Juno patted Kota appreciatively on the shoulder and she gave a very rare smile that she knew he would not see, but Kota smiled back nonetheless.

Juno slipped her arms through the sleeves trying to decide mentally if this jacket would only be worn out of kindness than something she actually enjoyed. If was firm, but not too confining. Juno could work with that.

It smelled like sulfur. Juno tried to imagine what kind of planet Kota had picked this piece of clothing on, and how exactly he got there. Both she and Kota were supposed to be staying in this system because they heavily known as traitors to the Empire. Any bounty hunter might just make their biggest payday ever by both catching of glimpse of the pilot and old Jedi then following them home. Although staying near the rebel base was ideal, neither Kota or Juno were exactly confined to those guidelines. Kota had been getting extremely itchy about staying in one place for so long. This sulfur smelled like a new and intriguing world, but Juno knew this jacket would do just fine in her current need for adventure.

"I'm going soon. There's so much to do now that the alliance has our key leaders figured out." It was so like Kota to just keep moving. Juno breathed in. Of course he was going. Juno was sure that much like her moving forward for Kota was like being pulled by a strong magnet now matter how dangerous. "I wish you'd come with me, Juno. I could use your help and you know this ship better than anyone." Kota knodded his head back to the _Rouge_ _Shadow. _

Juno shook her head, "Kota, I can't come."

"Please Juno."

"I can't. I just can't do it. Besides you'll need me here to keep an eye on things for you."

Kota laughed, but he was hesitant "Whenever you'd like to come my offer will always stand. I'd hate to think of you here all alone."

"I'm not alone. I have PROXY now."

"That hunk of junk is not going serve as great company. You can't even get him to…" Kota stopped his train of thought and quickly switched directions as he could sense the blonde woman's tightness, "All I'm saying is you need real human relations. No more spending days trying to fix an old droid."

"I'm not wasting my days," said Juno quite defensively. Sure PROXY was taking much longer than she'd like, and yes there were a few unexpected hiccups, but she needed to fix him. In her head Juno just wished that Kota would leave. That way she wouldn't have to defend her isolation to anyone. No one bothered her. She was considered too "important" for some idiot to try to challenge her. People knew that Juno was not someone to be messed with in this new order.

It was funny how Juno was a legend and not one single recruit for the Rebel cause knew the true reason. The rumors about her ranged anywhere from the whispered "She's one of the Emperor's advisors now turned spy for us," and the not so flattering, "I heard Juno's nothing more than Organa's mistress. He keeps her in a place of power so she'll keep their secret." If Juno was one to laugh that last one would have reduced her to tears while trying to catch her breath. Either way both misleadings were parsecs away from the truth, but to Juno she'd rather be known by the falsehoods than the truth regardless of what they were.

"Juno." Kota reached out with both of his hands at either side of her shoulders. "I don't want you to be unhappy here. _He_ wouldn't want you to be unhappy." Juno felt uncomfortable with Kota's affection, and stepped back while looking around to see if any of the other Rebels lingering in the docking bay, noticed the two of them, but they were shielded from view by several crates.

"You don't know that. Besides Kota, I like the position they've given me here. And does Bail know exactly what it is you wanted to do? Or is this off the record?" Kota coughed, "You just make sure Bail doesn't pay too close attention to me, okay?" Kota coughed again louder and Juno couldn't help but smile. Old warrior Kota afraid of being found out by Bail. The whole thing was comical. He stopped coughing and looked at her like he was really seeing her.

"Believe it or not Juno, I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Juno brought Kota in for what might have been the fourth hug she'd ever given or received in her adult-life. She squeezed him gently, her head took one glance at the _Shadow_, and she mouthed a goodbye at that ship. It wasn't that she didn't want to go with Kota, she did, but the thought of being back on that ship was too much for her. For these past few months Juno had gotten better. She no longer acted like a machine, but started to do things that were just for her again. If Juno had to be in a place where she saw the ghost of Galen in every corner, felt his voice alive in the walls, imagined his eyes staring at her, she would never recover. As long as he was dead there was no possibility of ever getting back on that ship.

"I'd better be off before I get roped into talking about strategy again. You know how much I hate sitting around and talking. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this cause is about doing, not waiting."

"Where will you go first?"

"Not sure, I think I'll need to find others who are sick of waiting too if I'm to get anything done." Kota turned and walked towards the ship and waved to Juno. Juno watched her friend board the ship. Before the bay door shut Juno yelled, "Thanks for the jacket, Kota!"

Kota yelled back, "I'm blackguard now." The door shut and Juno walked off, but only to find three of the younger recruits playing with the newly acquired equipment. Juno placed her hands on her hips.

"Hey!" They froze. The youngest of the three, a very sunburnt brunette dropped a blaster he'd just been pretending was a sword. She could hear them shallow. She could feel herself smile.

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><p>AN: I know I'm late with this. I apologize. Reviews are always welcome and please enjoy my meager offering that serves as a chapter.


	23. Droid Speak

**Droid Speak**

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><p>"Damn it!"<p>

Juno sucked on her bleeding finger while she surveyed the mess that was everywhere. The small space in the corner of Juno's room served as her workplace, but that corner had eventually expanded to the rest of the room. The night before Juno had uncovered a rather large bolt from under her pillow which explained the pain in her neck. Her project sat in front of her, the lights behind his "eyes" were shut off because Juno hadn't been able to fix him just yet. She sucked her finger again tasting the salty metallic sensation. For the first time in her life Juno was stumped in the mechanical field. She had almost refitted, rerouted every wire, but still the problem persisted. Now that Juno had painstakingly re-tooled PROXY's memory bank, and with her accidently sacrifice blood, maybe now he would work properly. Juno retracted her finger from her mouth. The cut wasn't that deep it just kept bleeding she wiped the red on her pants.

This was the hardest part of fixing PROXY. Every single time she turned him back online she hoped that he wouldn't terrify her with the image that haunted her mind at night. Why had it been that PROXY was so easily repaired in some ways, but in the one way that Juno needed him to be fixed, his insides refused to cooperate. She breathed out and reached for his switch and closed her eyes as she pressed down.

Juno brushed her bangs away from her face and concentrated on the sound of whirring machine and clunky metal coming to life. She wanted to open her eyes, but she was afraid. She was afraid that she'd find a ghost looking at her, but there was a part of her that was deathly, sickly afraid that she'd succeeded. Slowly her curtained lashes raised and immediately she jumped back, the stool underneath her crashed sideways, her hand over her mouth.

Galen sat on the bench, his head cocked to one side just surveying her.

_No, no, no! _

Galen's mouth opened to speak to the quaking Juno.

"Don't speak. Don't say anything PROXY." Galen's mouth closed and he blinked his earth eyes at her and his head moved up and down in understanding. Juno turned from him, her hand returned over her quivering lip as a few drops of blood fell to the floor. The problem was still not fixed. Angrily she pounded her fist against the wall. How could it be possible for his hologram program to stuck, and worse it had decided to set PROXY's image as his former owner. Her black and dirty fingers brushed through her hair. She was so tired of this, she was beyond tired, she was exhausted. Juno's eyes raised to the ceiling she could almost hear a low chuckle and feel Galen's smirk. One last joke being played on Juno. Why Juno thought that Galen would have found this funny was beyond her, but she just knew he'd like it.

Juno braced herself for the impact of his face. _It's just PROXY, it's just PROXY_. She spoke this to herself over and over again. Over the last couple of days this silent chant had become her new mantra. Juno slowly pivoted on the spot and found "Galen" holding one of Juno's tool inspecting it carefully.

For the past few, well Juno couldn't even remember how long it had been since she'd first tried to fix PROXY, she'd always shut down PROXY promptly after discovering his face mimicked Galen. Today she decided it would be different. Perhaps she needed PROXY to be in his hologram mood for her to finally and with great relief get him back to the way he was.

Pulling a stool back up from the ground Juno sat on it and faced Galen. He looked away from the tool and meaningfully looked into Juno's confused azure eyes. Forgetting he wasn't supposed to speak Galen uttered heartbreak at Juno, "What's wrong with me?"

"Your, your,"Juno stumbled over her words. She'd held memory of what Galen's voice had sounded like but her memory hadn't done much justice. She mentally slapped herself. _This isn't Galen. Stop acting so weak._ Her voice found her again this time it was steady, "Your hologram program is broken. When you were fighting Vader I guess something happened to your internal hardware, and now it seems you are stuck like this."

Galen looked at himself for the first time. His eyes widened slightly as he flexed his fingers in front of his eyes and then looked at Juno in shock. "Captain Eclipse, I'm sorry. This must be terribly hard for you. I know how much you meant to-"

"Don't" Juno's words were poisonous ice. This wasn't the kind of conversation she wanted to have with "Galen" or pretty much anyone, ever. It was for this reason that she'd never spoken to PROXY before when he was like this. Sometimes it was too much to bear. Only Kota knew of PROXY's malfunction and that had been an accidental discovery. After Kota had tried to convince Juno to toss PORXY away, but she ignored that advice, and the look of pity Kota snuck her every time she went back to her room to work on him.

She couldn't quite explain her motives for needing to repair PROXY, but she just had to. Maybe it was because for the loneliest part of Galen's life PROXY had been his one and only companion. Even though his was a droid, albeit an extremely unusual droid, PROXY was a friend. If Juno gave up then she would have nothing else to really prove that Galen had once existed. Her pocket felt heavy and she reached her slender work fingers inside. She rubbed the small cloth she always carried with her.

"PROXY?"

He looked up with stolen brown eyes, "Yes?"

"Is there anything you'd think might help repair you?"

Galen shook his head slowly, "No, I'm sorry. I wish I knew because even I don't like being him." Juno understood. While it was impossible to say whether or not droids could really feel emotion or understand complicated human relations Juno understood. PROXY, like her missed his friend.

Finally one day, Juno had fixed PROXY. As Juno waited for the hologram to fade PROXY had grabbed her hand. While she felt the cold metal of his extension Juno stared at the two hands holding each other closely. Suddenly his flesh flickered for a minute revealing the true hand. Juno knew this was it. She moved her eyes from the hands to his face to watch him disappear for the second time.

"Thank you," he said softly. Then he vanished.

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><p><strong>AN:** We are so close to the end folks! Thanks for keeping up with me so far. Reviews are always welcome and please enjoy!


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